Jim,
I am a 67 year old Viet Nam Vet. Some years back I went to VA Ambulatory Care Center for an appointment. Not knowing what the appointment was for, and having received no fleet enema from VA, I hadn't cleaned out.
When the medical techs sold me that they were about to do a prostate biopsy, I told them no, I'll make another appointment & come back all cleaned out. They said no, we'll do it anyway. I protested again, but they insisted, so I relented. Back then, they didn't even dispense a preventive antibiotic.
No surprise that within a few months I turned up with a prostate infection that I'm still not sure I'm rid of (E coli of course) I have been hospitalized 3 times from the VA Emergency Room, & treated with triple IV antibiotics for sepsis. I had passed kidney stones and this apparently allowed the prostate infection into my bladder as well as my bloodstream. l likely had the kidney stones due to hypercalcemia from a parathyroid gland gone silly. Even though I had seen my PCP twice-a-year and other VA Drs as well, no-one caught the hypercalcemia for more than 7 years. Since that biopsy procedure I've had frequent UTI's as well as epididymitis. Again, E. coli.
I realize my Drs. are human, and I actually like my VA care overall.
I've been told that this ongoing difficulty, which has taken quite a toll on my health, should qualify me for a higher level of service connection if I push the matter, but I don't really know how to go about it, or even where to start.
Have you any experience with this sort of thing, and would you have any advice for me to follow.
I might add that my small Social Security benefit is all I have anymore, yet it is enough to cause liability for copay for my VA medicines.
Thanks in advance.
Reply:
You pose a difficult question.
You had a prostate biopsy. Did you have prostate cancer? If you are now currently rated for prostate cancer you may be able to build on that and build some of the symptoms you report as secondary conditions.
If you don't have a diagnosis of cancer, this gets a little more difficult. When we conduct a Google search on the topic of bowel prep to lessen infections after prostate biopsy, we learn that there are few, if any, standards.
http://tinyurl.com/cnn88nu
The bowel is inherently a very germ laden place so a true surgical prep really isn't possible. It's almost a minor miracle that an infection doesn't occur every time this procedure is done.
So...was there any medical malpractice in your situation or are you just one of the unlucky ones who fell on the wrong side of the statistics? That you've had so many problems associated with the procedure isn't necessarily an indictment of how they conducted the procedure but many would argue that since you had no prep whatever, there was a break in their protocol.
If we decided that there was medical malpractice and we wanted to sue VA for damages (a "tort") we learn that there is a 2 year window of opportunity. In most circumstances the law will prohibit you from initiating a tort some 2 years after the event that you claim caused an injury. So, it seems that the opportunity to seek damages by filing a lawsuit have long since passed.
However, you may still have an opportunity to collect damages via an 1151 claim. The 1151 claim is filed much the same as any claim for disability benefits. You can do this yourself...in fact, you'll probably have to at least get it started on your own.
You can write to the VA regional office that holds your files and tell them what has happened. Do this in a very factual way and don't try to be a lawyer or to use highly technical terms. Just state the facts as they are known to you.
Be sure to declare, "I am filing an 1151 claim seeking compensation for the disabilities that have been caused by an improper prostate biopsy." Then go on to tell them of the dates of each event you believe may be linked to that biopsy.
Then you wait...and wait, and wait. Eventually, you'll get a decision. You may receive additional benefits similar to any other service connected rating. You will probably be denied any compensation rating at all. Once you're denied, you can then seek the services of a veterans law attorney to help you with any appeal that may be appropriate.
This probably sounds like a giant pain and a lot of paperwork with no guarantees of a good outcome. However, you may have a well grounded claim and you may very well prevail.
Many details about the 1151 claim may be found here http://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin21/m21_1/mr/part4/subptii/ch02/M21-1MRIV_ii_2_secG.doc
I'd say that you should do 2 things. First, file the 1151 claim. That can't hurt and it only costs you the time to write up and mail the letter starting the claim. Then, I'd suggest that you talk with a law firm that specializes in such tort cases for veterans. They may see things I don't see and want to proceed with a medical malpractice lawsuit.