Veterans Affairs 1

[Nomadfl]

I just want to bring forward some information that maybe of interest to retired or serving members of the Canadian Forces.

If you have served in a SDA (Special Duty Area) or in the field and had a case of    Acute Gastroenteritis, and started suffering arthritic problems like me, you may have suffered from Reactive Arthritis, commonly know as Reiter's Syndrome. I wasn't able to pinpoint my situation until I had been retired for approximately 20 years. I had read an article in the Toronto Star describing a bunch of Ontario Provincial Police Officers who were assigned to Midland Ontario in the early 80's when the pope visited the area.

A good number of the OPP Officers had gotten sick from sandwiches they had ate, some form of salmonella poisoning (acute gastroenteritis) affected these officers. A high percentage of these officers were affected by Reactive Arthritis, which caused disabilities, and some were not able to continue working. If you have been infected with these disabilities while serving...you are entitled to a Veterans Affairs Canada Disability Pension. For further information, look at www.google.com and enter Reactive Arthritis  

Also If many of you suffer from hard of hearing, and this was noted on your over 40 medicals, you should look into hearing loss by your occupation. Many people in the forces have gunner's hearing, a form of hearing loss caused by weapons, machinery, high speed dental equipment etc. Years ago we were not given ear protection equipment like what now is available.

Get an updated hearing test to confirm your hearing loss. Contact the military archives and get a copy of your medical files, especially the hearing test. Take these with you when you go for your hearing test, and ask the testing technician, or doctor if this substantiates your hearing loss caused by noise. You are entitled to a pension for this disability

And if you are on the Veterans Affairs Canada VIP (Veterans Independence Program), do you really know what you are covered for. The booklet "A Guide To Access VAC Health Benefits And The Veterans Independence Program" is a very vague written booklet about benefits and programs, just compare it to the PSHCP, or to the Dental Plan...everything is so vaguely written, and if you need treatment for your covered benefits, it may take up to 30 days to get your treatment   approved. To me, this is totally unsatisfactory.

If any member has any questions or comments, please contact me ......more comments to follow

 

[Nomadfl]

Veterans Affairs 2

Dealing with your Physician, and or Specialist

Sometimes we encounter family physicians, and or specialist who do not want to get involved with the government "Veterans Affairs". When you encounter this roadblock I can only advise you to do things this way. I would do the following all the time, to all physicians, and referred specialist just to have the facts   on their records

List your medical problems into memo form, with all the ailments you have from your disabilities, along with how the disability happened, date it, and sign it. Give one copy to your GP, and the other to referred specialist. Usually the physicians listens to what you are telling them, and they only write down for the records what they want to put down. With this method, he has to accept it, and it will give him/her something to read, and to refer too when Veterans Affairs ask them for a medical report.

If your family physician referred you to a specialist, and you see the specialist, give him a copy of the memo for his file on you. If your condition worsens between visits, make out a new memo stating all the new conditions. Every time your specialist sees you, he normally sends a report back to your family physician. Ask your specialist for a copy of the this report, so that you have a copy of what he is telling your family physician about your condition.

With these recorded   medical   problems, you can substantiate your claim for a Veterans Affairs Disability Pension. Don't leave any stone unturned when doing preliminary work for a pension application.

In the army, they used to say "put it in writing", the same applies here, you must document the ailment to your physician...get it on record. If anyone has any questions or queries, that I may be able to answer, contact me.

 

[Nomadfl]

Veterans Affairs 3

Dealing With Veterans Affairs Canada

If you are in the process of applying for or contemplating applying for a V.A. Canada Disability Pension, for an accident or illness suffered while serving in a Special Duty Area, or other.

I had applied to V.A. Canada for something that happened to me, while serving in a Special Duty Area - Egypt, in 1973-74.

In applying to V.A. Canada, for a disability pension, you will have to fill out numerous forms, and describe in detail, what happened, and how it affected you.

I applied, and stated what I was claiming for, and the Pension Officer who drew up the "First Application Summary" applied for something else, which caused all kinds of problems. The Decision from the Pension Board went against me. I let them know , that's not what I was applying for. This caused all kinds of problems, and stone-walling by the Pension Officers at V.A. Canada.

I would not have applied for a disability pension, but having acquired all my Forces Medical Records, plus my Forces Personal File by accident a couple years previous. An article in the Toronto Star about a type of illness, and what it caused came to my attention, and I cross reference this to my medical files.

If you are thinking about applying, or have applied, do the following for your benefit, V.A. Canada   may not like it, but it is your right.

1. If you are retired, or about to retire, get a complete copy of your Forces Medical File, and your Forces Personal File, by using a Personal Information Request Form .

2. If any files are in any language other then your official language, ask, or demand a copy of those files in your language.

3. When you apply for a V.A. Canada Disability Pension, get a Personal Information Request Form, asking for a copy of the "First Application Summary, with all attachments". This is the collection of information that the V.A. Canada Pension Officer is submitting on your behalf. Also tell them in writing that you want to "sign off"the application before they submitted on your behalf. Read what they are applying for, and make sure it has all the information included that you feel is necessary, and they are submitting the proper information.

4. If you find errors in your Forces Medical Files, and or your Forces Personal Files, you have the right to have these errors corrected as per the Privacy Act, using a Record Correction Form.

5. All these forms can be obtained from the Base Orderly Room, or your M.P.'s Riding Office. If you have any problems with V.A. Canada, contact your M.P. for help.

As a further note, if any of you members ever suffered from Acute Gastroenteritis while serving in a Special Duty Area, or on a field exercise, and then started suffering with an Arthritis problem, and other complications, that surfaced after this illness, you just might have contacted a form of Reactive Arthritis. If you on the Internet, go to www.google.com, and enter "acute gastroenteritis" and "reactive arthritis". For more information, or help with things that I have mentioned above, contact me,

 

[George Wallace]

Just to add to your Veterans Affair 3:

If you are getting out and get a Photocopy of your Medical Files, don't forget you can also do the same with your Dental Files.

GW

 

[Nomadfl]

George.....are you ex RCDC.....Dentist in Edmonton????

 

[George Wallace]

George.....are you ex RCDC.....Dentist in Edmonton????

No

RCD not RCDC - soon to be Ottawa and looking into finding a Family Doctor, Dentist and OHIP.

GW