medical Archives - Social Security Disability

The Murfreesboro Tennessee VA announced that from April 23, 2003 until December 1, 2008 veterans who had colonoscopies performed in the VA of Murfreesboro may have been exposed to HIV and Hepatitis C, due to a valve that was not properly sanitized and or attached to the medical machine used in the procedure.

The Murfreesboro VA believes that close to 6 thousand veterans may have been exposed to the body fluids of others, as the valve used in the colonoscopy was not properly cleaned and or placed correctly on the machine. The Alvin C. York VA Center of Murfreesboro has announced that they are offering free blood tests to determine if any veteran has contracted the deadly diseases. These free screenings have been offered via a letter sent out to veterans.

HIV and Hepatitis C are deadly diseases, you can have one or both and not be aware of it. It is important to follow up with at the Murfreesboro VA and have your blood tested. I am in hopes that no veteran will test positive, but what if you do test positive, what happens then?

Do you have rights against the Murfreesboro VA? Yes you do have rights, you should expect not to be exposed to someones body fluids by having a routine colonoscopy. If you do test positive for any diseases related to this treatment, you do have legal rights, although they are somewhat different because it involves the United States Government. Your claim may fall under the GTLA, (Governmental Tort Liability Act), I have filed suit under the GTLA before, it is not easy to take on the government and there are many hurdles to doing so, but in this case it may be required if you test positive for any diseases related to the colonoscopy procedure.

Your rights as a Veteran under the GTLA in regards to the Murfreesboro VA have deadlines and procedures that must be met to secure your claim. I would be pleased to speak to you and review your facts. There is no excuse for veterans of the United States to be subjected to such mistakes.

I would be pleased to speak with you at anytime about your situation. I have already spoken to several veterans and reviewed facts of the procedure, please feel free to phone me toll free at (877) 271-2633 or local at (615) 308-2633.

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq

You have worked your entire life and suddenly through no fault of your own you become disabled, what do you do? I hear this scenario over and over again in Tennessee, it is a difficult situation to find oneself in. The first thing that you need to do is get your initial Social Security Disability application filed, you can do this by dialing 1 (800) 772-1213, I would recommend calling on the days of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, it seems these days are less crowded.

What happens after that? Usually in Tennessee your case is decided within a couple of months, unfortunately many people are denied. After you are denied you have a deadline to meet to appeal your claim, this is called the reconsideration stage, the Department of Disability Services will review your claim again, if you are denied at the reconsideration stage you will again have a deadline to meet, should you fail to meet any of these deadlines your claim can be dismissed.

What is after the reconsideration stage? This is when you request a hearing before a Federal Administrative Law Judge. You will need to have all of your relevant medical records for the Court to review, and testify before the Judge and the Vocational expert, each district in Tennessee has their own hearing office, such as Chattanooga, Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, other states have the same scenario, each part of the state is split into districts. After the hearing at the Office of Hearing and Appeals, what is next? The Social Security Judge will generally issue an opinion about your claim in writing, you and your attorney will receive a copy of the decision in the mail.

As an attorney who has been in the courtroom since my third year of law school in Mississippi I have enjoyed my time representing good hard working people, being an Attorney doing Social Security Disability Law allows me to help out people, who through no fault of their own have become disabled. I would be pleased to help you out during your application for Social Security Disability, feel free to call the office at toll free 1 (877) 271-2633 or local at (615) 308-2633.

www.socialsecuritydenied.com

Daniel L. McMurtry, Esq.