I'll post a more detailed article in the comming days, but a Montana newspaper article highlights a couples fight against the VA after a VA medical examination resulted in a reduction of a veteran TBI rating. We have found in our office that TBI injuries are vastly under rated by the VA. Recent Inspector General Reports from various VA offices highlight this fact. Quoting from the October 12, 2013 edition of the Great Falls Tribune, it says:
In a report dated last Aug. 28, for example, the IG’s office examined the Albuquerque, N.M., regional office. “VARO staff incorrectly processed 10 of 28 traumatic brain injury claims,” it found. “The errors occurred primarily because staff misinterpreted VBA policy for rating a traumatic brain injury with a coexisting mental condition and used insufficient VA medical examination reports to evaluate traumatic brain injury claims.” In Houston, “Staff misinterpreted VBA policy and inaccurately processed 15 of 30 traumatic brain injury claims,” it said. Same thing in Muskogee, Okla. “Staff misinterpreted VBA policy and inaccurately processed 13 of 30 traumatic brain injury claims,” the IG’s office found. In Waco, Texas, it found that “errors in processing 9 of 30 traumatic brain injury claims occurred primarily due to ineffective training and inexperienced staff rating these complex cases.” However, Denver — the regional office for Fort Harrison — misdiagnosed 4 of 30 TBI claims. Numbers were similarly good for Newark, N.J., Boise, Idaho, and Jackson, Miss.
