The Deborah Scott Story: A Horror Story at the VA

The weekly black Pittsburgh Courier, wrote the story and when he asked for an comment from the regional office they stated that it wasn’t true and now all they can do is wait on my appeal to the Board of Veterans appeals. (I have copy of that ariticle).

The Congressman wrote me a thank you for writing him but the regional office has stated to his office that they have help you with this issue. Jessie Jackson never heard from him and the NAACP President at the time Harvey Adams told me to shallow my pride and get on welfare. ACLU couldn’t help me eithier and since DAV after going to the papers they quit me, they stated that I had went over their heads and did that story. I had no choice but to file the appeal.

In the meantime I went back to school under Chapter 31. And I continued to seek employment. Than I had to have another pacemaker because the pacemaker was recalled. I still was having dizzyness, blackouts spells, and real bad headaches. The cardiologist had gave me a letter to attached to any of my applications that I could do anything. Well after leaving school due to the surgery, I went back again. I started working for HUD also. After a year waiting on my appeal, I decided to called the board to check on the statis of my case.

The Board told me that they had records of any appeal from me and they had no records from the regional office, this is one year later. When I called the Director of Pgh regional office his secretary told me to write a letter. She got smart with me and I went down to his office to meet her or him. It didn’t matter at the time I was pissed off. After they seen I wasn’t moving the Director came out of his office and stated he would have his assistant Director help me and I still needed to speak to him after he would see me. When I told him he stated that he had to look into this matter because this come from the Judication department. The regional office told me that they didn’t lose the records and all I could do is to produce new evidence for my appeal.

(later on like 2006, the VA had a inter office E-mail going around, it was a cartoon that had a VA representative taking papers from a veterans, and as the veterans walks away the cartoon caption read "

and he though all he had to do was apply" while the representative was putting his ppers in a shredder). And of course this brought me back to this part of my fight. In the meantime I lost my job because the blackouts were getting worst again, the pain in my right shoulder was also getting bad. The doctor had told me that because I’m thin that the shoulder had bursitos and there was nothing they could do but give me more drugs. Since I had four pacemakers on the right side they decided that because of the shoulder problem they would put it on the left side, since the pacemaker again was malfuctioning.

Because of my medical insurance would not cover this surgery at a private hospital they sent a consult to the Chief, of Cardiology at the VA, in Oakland. I had the surgery three days later, because I’m pacemaker dependant it couldn’t wait. When I put in for a increase again for the new pacemaker implant and the shoulder problem for both now, plus of course the depression due to all these things that were going on, and I also put in for unemployability. The regional office denied every isssue they stated that I had no previous records which I ‘d applied for these issue after getting out of the service and the implantation of the new pacemaker was under the same regualtion, with the intial pacemaker, I still didn’t warrant an increase. Also that these black outs were not considered stocks adams attacks. So of course this case went to the Board.

About 9 months later I had a black out and fell down the steps in the apartment building I lived at. When I woke up the doctor stated I had broke my nose and I had a miscarriage. When they operated on my nose, my heart stop so they didn’t finish the surgery but wanted me to come back in a month after seeing my cardiologist. About the miscarriage, I didn’t even no I was pregnant, and I cried for days and months about that.

Even thought I was told I couldn’t have anymore kids it still hurt. They also told me I couldn’t take birth control eithier and I couldn’t get my tubes tied becuase it wasn’t necessary. When I founded out that the VA doctor who did the surgery put the same type of pacemaker back in me that they told him was causing the last problem and this is why I had the blackout. I had a fit even called a lawyer but the problem with that was I didn’t die. My chhild died but I couldn’t have it anyway, that’s what the lawyer told me and that he was a government doctor it would take years and a lot of money.

Another thing I couldn’t go after the pacemaker company becuase I needed them in order me to live. So I was caught between a rock and a hard plate. Of course I applied again for an increase at the regional office and of course I lost again. After this surgery and this mess I signed myself in again at the Physic ward. I told these doctors what had been going on, and they wrote again that I had a personality disorder and that my whole life revovle around fighting the VA for an increase. And that my anger was toward them. They put me on prozac, which had me crying all the the time and I was told again that I wasn’t handling my handicapp and I was causing my own blackouts and dizzy spells. They stated I wasn’t eating, I was smoking alot, and somewhere they claimed I was drinking a fifth of vodka a day. Were did that come from is beyond me but whatever they stated had to be the gospel truth, let the regional office tell it. Of course I left there.

I had past the postal service test for carrying mail, and I was number two of the hiring list. So they hired 19 people, including me. Now there were two things that you had to pass before being hired, (1) past a phyical; (past driving a truck, and defensive driving class. I passed the driving part but when I got my phyical and even after giving them a copy of my cardiologist report stating I could do anything, they stated that I couldn’t have any job in US Post office due to my health problem. I was so angry I called on the NAACP again the Congressman, and the Senator office. I went to the media and of course they did the story. However, about three months later I received a letter from the Manager of the post office in Philly. The letter stated that maybe they were wrong and they would give me a chance to prove myself.

I had to past three 30 day evaluation and at the end of the 90 day probation I could have my job. Let’s just right to the 89th day, I had two evaluations and each one stated doing good approved to go on to the next 30 days, but on the 89th day after getting a clothing grant to get my uniforms after my shift, when I got back to the station the supervisor gave me a letter stating that I didn’t qualify for this job do to my performances on the job. I was shock, I never been written up, I’ve never been repremanded, I was always on time, and becuase subs were force to take all overtime, I never complained.

The union rep was angry, and he took my case to the union and to EEOC, but they stated I wasn’t an full time employee so the union couldn’t help me and EEOC stated that I should sign up for the handicap program and that was after I pass another 6 month evalution, then I might get my job back but other than that there wasn’t nothing he could do eithier. After about a week the union steward called me and stated that he knew they did that on purpose because I did that story and got to many politians involved and the only reason why the supervisor went along with it was he was retiring in the same week. If I would have passed the 90 days they had to pay me all the back pay, so I got dogged again. And I refuse the handicapp position because you could not take off for no reason within the 6 month probation period. I couldn’t agree to that since I never knew what would happen with the heart problem or any problem that occurred due to the heart condiditon.

Let me skip some of the other drama.

By 1993, I had had 9 pacemakers, 2 aboritons, 2 miscarriages, 9 clots on the lung, broken nose, 2-rupture disk replacement surgery, both left and right shoulders had bursitos in them. I had been admitted to the hospital because they founded another clot on my lung. After they thought it was going they sent me home. I had been on coumidin therapy since the first pacemaker implant, before I recieved the implant a clot had develop, so the surgery had to wait until they desolved the clot.

However, I returned again about three days later because the pain was orse than before. Aafter they another lung scan they seen that the clot had formed around one of the wires that was capped but not in use. The pacemaker company was aware of this problem because they had an alert on about it. But the doctor didn’t tell me or any other patient unless there were signs of the problem occuring. However, I had to get my first open-heart surgery, (therocadomy).

They gave me a choice on how I wanted to be open up eithier the chest wall which giving my health issues, they didn’t recommend that way or the breast wall, I had no choice on having the surgery so I choice the breast wall. The surgery was worst than anything I ever had to come back from. The pain was so bad that I would just wish I would die. They cut my right breast from the center of my chest under the breast to the middle of my back. They had to removed the wires(which they never do becuase it is to dangerous but because of the problem I had they had no choice, They implanted the new pacemaker in my stomach because there was no were else to go after 4 pacemakers in each shoulder.

Which of course is very rare but I couldn’t live without it so I was just stuck. They told me after three weeks that it was going to take at least a year of so to heal. When I went home, again I had to deal with the pain and of course all the things that been happening to me since I was 27, and had my first implant. I cried everyday for the pain and the fair of dying, and everything. Not only did I have that pain I had these real bad headaches. I was put on some heavy drugs for pain and it would help me sleep but when I woke the pain was still there. I had went to the emergency room about three times before they finally gave me something that help a litle, more so kept me drugged up.

Of course I put in for a increase again, for the open heart surgery, clot on my lung, lost of right breast (letter from the pain clinic doctor stated that the breast had extensive nerve damage and would never function in the same manner, plus the scar keyloyld, and he put me on methodone treatment because it burned all the time), the depression and headaches, and unemployability.

I recieved a letter from the VA stating I was denied because my open heart surgery wasn’t considered major, and I was denied for the clot on my lung because there was no record that I ever applied for that problem, they gave me 0% for the scar under my breast but denied the breast issue because I didn’t lose my breast to cancer, they denied the deression and the headaches they stated that these problems were cause by my personality discorder and theres no rating for that, they denied the unemployability because you ahd to have a 60% rating before being eligible to apply for that to.

I couldn’t believe the letter so I went to the new media and the news paper, I sent a copy to the Senator, the Congressman, NAACP, CBC Braintrust committee, I sent this letter to everyone I could think of at the time. No one could believe what they stated in writting.

However, after the news ask for a comment I got a call from one of the assistant director stating that I couldn’t do anything on this level but appeal it to the Board for an administrative review.

While a VA represnetative was going thru my files to file this appeal, we found the 1977 missing records. The representative gave this file to the jurdication department. The head of the judication department sent this file and medical records along with a memo asking the Chief, of Cardiologist to review these records and let them no did I have two heart problems at the begining. And when did they manifest. And the clotting problem was it a seprate issue or did I have a lung disease.

They ask to give me another examination also. First of all the Chief of Cardiology use to be my doctor and he couldn’t believe that after 20 years I was still fighting for an increase and he couldn’g beleive that they had any problem understanding that everything I’ve been thru was very rare but it happen, he even showed me the memo. While he exam me he hadn’t known about the openheart surgery because the VA didn’t send him those records. However, when he wrote the VA back he also sent me a copy of his letter. ( I have the letter). But the VA came back and stated they gave me 60% for heart issue, 0% for the breast scar, 10% for the depression and 30% for the unemployability, dated back to my open heart surgery date 1993. What they didn’t no is I had a copy of the memo they sent him and his response.

So I went to the Assistant Director again and he ask them to give me a hearing. I had the hearing and I explained the problem and I showed proof of how they handled this case. About a moth I recieve a statemant of the case, stating that due to the missing VA form 9, I was denied. This letter was dated 6-23-96, about 4 days later I recieved a letter from the Board stating they have recieved my VA-Form 9 from the regional office but they had no records and they could not act on my case. I went to the Asst. Director again with this letter, he called the head of Judiction and the adjudicator who reviewed and judge my case and he showed both of the letters to them.

The head of judication stated he didn’t no how that happen and the adjudicator who made the decision stated he didn’t know how eithier but it don’t matter all I could do if I didn’t like his decision was to appeal it to the Board. You can imagine how I felt, lets put it this way thank god for LAWS. After that the Asst Director told me there was nothing he could do eithier because the adjudicator are appointed. Like I said I called on a lot of people for their help and of course they inquired but you know the system they told them that they were sending to Washington for Administrative review.

I had to request the Administrative review and I ask for a hearing in front of the Judge. I recieved a letter from the Board of Veterans Appeals giving me a hearing date. According, to the law the case would be reviewed before I had the hearing. Well that wasn’t true eithier, because the Judge told me he apologized for not reviewing my case becsuse my case was 7 volumes and it was a large case. But we still had the hearing. I told him everything, especially about the lost of my records 23 years. And that I had been denied for 23 years because they claim there was no previous records. First of all I’m thinking that my case was for the Administrative review board. Even after the hearing did I know that my case was at the Board of Veterans appeal, but I didn’t even find out for a year, when the Board remanded my case back to Pgh. regional office for more expert opinion for the heart problem and the PSTD. They told them to make appointment for these exams. I was pissed again because I have the Chief of Cardiology as my doctor which like I told you before the regional office had already as his opinion and the Chief, of Physic had alredy did another exam before the regional office granted me the PSTD. A matte r of fact the Chief of Physic, stated that whatever they diagnosis this before personality disorder did not stop me from enter the military and wasn’t present when I got out. Him along with four others doctors stated the same thing.

They each agreed that I had no mental problems or suffered from depression until after my intial pacemaker implant. I even one doctor write that I have been fighting for decades the VA and to live another day. You have to no I didn’t even realize that until after I read her letter. But the Board still sent this case back again, this was because the Senator and the Congressman were inquiring. I called it the basketball game. After two more years I got a letter stating I won an earlier affective date for the heart problem and for the regional office to make a decision a decision on the PSTD. When I got this letter I spoke to another va representative about what was going on with these decisions.

They told me that just because the Board recommends it don’t mean that the regional office has to agree. So of course the regional office denied me again. They told me that since the hadn’t finished with the other three issues, that the case had to go back to the Board and I had a right to appeal the two decisions back to the Board. So of course I appealed. According to the law that was passed by Prresident Clinton, the Duty To Assist, was meant for the regional office to help veterans with there claims so that they might recieved benefits. That was another joke as the VA stated that was just a politian joke to get him elected.

I recieved another letter from the Board after two more years. This time the case remanded again for an lung disease exam. First of all I never stated I had a lung disease, and that the lung problem was already explained in the Chief of Cardiology report. When I called the Board they told me that my case was with the developmental team and if I don’t go on the exam my case would be denied. For every thing they sent to me I sent a copy to the Senator office and the congressman andI even wrote Hilliary Clinton since she helping women and their medical problems at the time. Her response was thank you for writing but she sent a copy to Senator Arlene Spector, which if she would have looked at the cc’s he got one before she did. But I forgot she only for rich white women, not black disabled veterans or for that matter no veterans. I went to the exam and of course the doctor couldn’t beleive that the cardiologist had already told them about the lung issue which comes from the cardiomyophy, not a lung disease. After another year they denied that too. They stated that I didn’t have a lung disease.

All together they took ten years and when they came back they stated that the unemployability was denied because they couldn’t find where I applied for it before 1993. They also told Senator Spector that I lost the right to appeal the two issues of the heart problems and the depression because I didn’t do it in a timely fashion. But what they didn’t know was everythhing they wrote and I wrote back I sent to Senator Spector. The letter that I sent to them after speaking to a va reprensentative was appeal letter but according to the rep he had to send the case back to the Board and they would look at the appeal and notifiy me after they finished with all the issures. Which as you know was a lie. But now they want to blame me. After ten years I wrote to the Chairman of the Board because the Board never answer my request for an appeal and they hadn’t seen the reconsideration request.

And they stated at the regional office that I had a right to file since the Board overlooked it(the lawyer who worked on my case at the Board told me they didn’t see the letter, but since the case went back to the regional office, there was nothing they could. She stated I can start all over again). So I called the Chariman office after speaking to him he told me that one of his aids would look into the matter once they got the request. After a year, with the chairman office stating they hadn’t recieved three letter I not only wrote I even fax and they still claimed they didn’t recieved.

After calling of the Senator again. I recieved a letter from the Board dated 2-4-2004, they awarded me an earlier affected date for the PSTD, and that the CUE I filed for the unemployability was denied and that they just founded the letter requesting another review hat they gave me another docket date. I hit the roof after speaking to Senator Spector office again. A week later I recieved another letter dated 2-4-2004, this time the unemployability was denied. And of course they gave me the right to appeal to the course. I spoke to the Senator office and told them that because I had alot of politians inquiring about this case I though they did this on purpose. It dont take a blind person to see what was going on. Now it’s 10 years later and I still have to appealthis case to the courts.

The courst sent me an informal brief application to fill out. The first questions on the brief, is what issues are you appealing and the dates of the board decisions. Of course, since the only issues I could appeal was the PSTD, and Unemployability, and both cases had the same decision date 2-4-2004. Aftr a year the board attorney sent me a copy of the designation of records.

After trying to get a lawyer to represent me, I was turned down because as several attorrneys stated that "spoilation" which is what my case was about and prejudice there were laws to govern this type of issues. They stated that I could file myself so with the help of some attorneys I did my counter designation of records. The courts sent me an exclusion of some of my material stating that the attorney for the board couldn’t find these papers in my file. It was two piece of paper. Then they stating some of the material I had, didn’t have nothing to do with the issue of the depression.

So they were excluded too. I sent back and told the judge that this case is now 7 or 8 volumes huge and that my case was llost for 23 years, kept at the board for 10 years while they sent this case of a basketball trail and it’s been there almost two years, how can you blame me for missing records. But the letters I attached had to be somewhere because that would mean I made these letters up and I signed them on va letter head. However, the court sent me another request for an extension due to I had a huge volume and that the board was short of staff. It was xmas time, of course.

Then after another year they came back and asked for another extension because the courts found that the board attorneys overlooked the fact that there were two issues on appeal and dated for the same day deneid from the board. However, they were granted. Then I got another letter granted them another extension for good cause. I wrote the judge and told her that were I come from that meant because you said so. It still was granted. Then I got another letter stating that the attorney from the Board had taking extensive medical leave and they had to get someone to take his cases.

It is now 8-12-2008, and my case has benn there for 4 years and counting and it just went to a judge 2-2008 and accoridng to everyone elase I spoke to the courts can keep this case forevr they have no time limit. So after 31 years, and as of 8-14-2008 I’ll be 57 years old and I’m still figthing the same two things trying to live another day (which I’ve had 3 more pacemaker implanted still in my stomach), and fighting the VA system.

There’s alot more to this story but I think it’s long enough. I have every document since 1977 now so they can’t state that I lied to anyone, this story is important to tell because I was invited to speak at the congressional black caucus in 1981, and also in 2006, on the issue of black females veterans and our problems that weve been having with seeking benefits.

So I write and tell people this story alot trying to get help for other females not just black so they don’t have to go thru what I went thru in the 30 years it took me. I’m really scared for the young veterans that are coming home now men or female because this system sucks.

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READ PART II:  The Deborah Scott Story

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