Alarming Pattern in Defense Base Act TBI and PTSD Claims
Posted by defensebaseactcomp on January 13, 2010
As we research and document we have noticed the following pattern in DBA cases when it comes to PTSD/ TBI claims:
First, the insurance company lawyers viciously defame the claimant and his/ her family, oftentimes with the coerced help of former coworkers. Although the DSM IV clearly states the emotional impact of PTSD , namely irritability and outbursts of anger (D2), the ALJs routinely turn around and use the symptoms of PTSD to blame the victim or label them with personality disorder although there is no history of this behavior in their past.
Oftentimes their families are unfairly blamed for being the cause of ‘personal stressors’ to shift the blame and malign them in hopes that they will drop the claim and to deter others from filing a claim.
Secondly, the insurance shrinks produce false (misquote DSM IV etc.) and fraudulent medical testimony (fake bad scale; falsify psychological test results)
Based in large part on that defamation;
The ALJs denied all the initial PTSD claims, starting with Talbot, Eysselinck, Meredith and many others (Thompson indirectly by insisting that the last body recovery mission triggered his PTSD) because they were misled by the insurance quacks that the onset of PTSD symptoms is immediate and did not read the DSMIV evidence in the record. (see Course: Symptoms usually begin within the first 3 months after the trauma, although there may be a delay of months, or even years, before symptoms appear)
Third, the company falsely claims that the traumatic event never occurred/ or that no records/ witness exist; leading to totally insane findings like civilians contractors were not exposed to life-threatening events in the Iraq war.
It’s not that they don’t know better. Even the US Army’s official threat assessment fails to persuade them in their plush chambers half a world removed:
Daily Threat Update January 14, 2004:
“Analysis of recent attacks and information indicate that anti-coalition groups and affiliated foreign fighters as well s local resistance groups in Iraq are becoming more sophisticated and may be coordinating their anti-coalition efforts…..
There has been an increase of attacks involving civilian / contractor personnel throughout Iraq …..
Recent weeks have seen a significant increase in the threat against civilian ‘soft targets’. This includes attacks against western contractors and those associated with the CPA, Iraqis cooperating with the coalition …..
The threat of kidnapping remains high …
This threat is highest in Baghdad …
Finally, they assert that the claimant is either exaggerating or faking his impairment and then paint them as dishonest because of some minor or irrelevant discrepancy between what their numerous doctors wrote down in their treatment notes (or failed to mention) and the various depositions/ testimony of mentally impaired people who suffer from memory and attention problems.
This deceitful scheme has worked time and again. The real question is why do many administrative law judges credit these slanderous fabrications and lies regarding war exposure. Even when they find that a witness has lied, no action is taken against such person or employer/carrier who clearly put them up to it, thus encouraging AIG/CNA to use the same depraved tactics time and again with total impunity.
Defense Base Act Compensation Blog 
daffodils said
Apart from the utter inhumanity of it all, this goes a long way in explaining why there were only 303 DBA PTSD claims filed, and even if the figure has increased to 3000 by now its still less than one percent of what one would reasonably expect it to be.
In June 2008, Senior District Judge Samuel Conti in VCS, et al. v. Peake, et al found that:
The suicide rate among veterans is significantly higher than that of the general population,” and there is “a strong connection between PTSD and suicide.”
“One out of every three soldiers returning from Iraq was seen in the VA for a mental health visit within a year of their return” with PTSD being a “leading diagnosis.”
Lets put and end to the myth that the risk of PTSD in unarmed civilian contractors operating outside the wire cannot be compared to combat troops.
A RAND study debunked this years ago and several recent ones confirm that reserve/ support troops are at higher risk for combat stress and suicide. The fact that nobody bothers to study or even count contractors does not mean that they don’t have serious problems.
How does one explain the discrepancy between the district court ruling and what comes out of administrative law courts? is it because contractors can’t afford to hire expensive expert witnesses to testify live at their hearings or is there something more sinister at work here?
Superman said
If you think PTSD claims and TBI claims are just suddenly raising for no reason keep dreaming!
C.N.A you were warned to stop screwing around. There have been so many who have not received treatment and have been mislead, lied to, and intentionally deceived by your adjusters and your legal defense team.
You can refer to me as Superman ! Hello all. I want to let you all know I stand for Truth, Justice & the American way. Unlike my predecessor I give you my word I will not fly out a 30 story window. I am here to stay no matter what pressure I am under. Just think if me as a self proclaimed minister for justice and it is my mission to ensure all contractors know their entitlements and what C.N.A. & AIG is required under law to provide.
Over the past months C.N.A offices in Chicago along with offices of their defense teams have been successfully infiltrated. When I flew in on my cape to their San Francisco FOO-FOO coffee shops and the on the go lunch locations just don’t cut it. But I must admit the coffee of choice of one particular conspirator is actually pretty good. They may want to try the Indian style coffee of one of their own clients on their next trip to Illinois. AIG is my next stop.
My goal is to assist all who come home, resulting in expenditures by C.N.A and A.I.G to easily run into the millions. They were giving a chance and I only give it once. They severely miscalculated. So I have made it my personal goal to expose this evil conspiracy. My X-Ray Vision and Extrodanary Hearing via the Patriot Act have allowed me to get some insight into the thought process behind these decisions made by these Terrorist organizations.
For years we only suspected their true deceit but now as ACORN and others have been exposed so will C.N.A. When will this occur? How? Just stay tuned.
Lets first start with the profile of the week. C.N.A have hired a defense team that comprises of one attorney who has a “Gender Identity Disorder”. Gee who would think, their office is in San Francisco. This individual needs to decide what non-extradition country to flee to because there is no doubt prison is coming. It is my understanding that sexual oriented internet chats with under-aged children have been occurring for months. Scandal! I love it. Hum what do you folks think, should we just do a profile each week on each attorney? Or each adjuster? Or both? I would love to hear you suggestions.
Well I need to get running along and get ready for this next snow storm, till next week.
Superman
“Truth, Justice & the American Way”
SuperMan_Contractor@yahoo.com
Superman said
P.S.
To answer your question why there are so little PTSD & TBI claims filed its simple.
You go to CNA, ask to be seen for either or both and they refuse to send you to a doctor, therefore No diagnosis.
To solve this problem it’s simple.
1) Go to the doctor of your choice, pay for it, get your diagnosis.
2) Then have your lawyer submit that to the DOL and request that doctor as your doctor of choice which they must provide.
3) Then after a short wait you will be authorized. You may have to wait for your money for the doctor visit but that will be reimbursed by the Insurance company at some point in the future whether they like it or not.
daffodils said
Welcome aboard Superman, gotta love your can-do attitude.
Now if you would fix your X-ray vision on finding the following pieces the puzzle will hopefully fall into place: Why is it that the chief administrative law judge John Vittone, after setting the tone in his clearly biased decision in KE v Canine Associates, assigned the vast majority of initial PTSD cases to three Covington judges who incredibly denied most of them? The claimants did not reside in Texas. Coincidence? Hint: they travel to Europe.
They main culprits responsible for corrupting the DBA are defense lawyers Roger Levy (CIA) and Jerry McKenney (AIG) and their allies in the labor department. Among other perversions, Levy enjoys defaming the dead and cheating war orphans out of their death benefits and McKenney pays his deceptive psychiatrist (John Griffith) in hard cash – no bills generated.
Have to disagree on your fix for PTSD and TBI cases. If you read the DBA X-files, you will note that every denied case had at least one doctor’s diagnosis (in one case five) but the judge credited the insurance doctor over the claimant’s doctor(s). Secondly, many mentally injured contractors are homeless, untreated and unable to hold a job and therefore cannot pay for a diagnosis. Much less can they afford to pay their doctor to testify live in court while the insurance quacks are always in court bamboozling the judges. A PET scan and or MRI brain scan necessary to prove traumatic brain injury can cost up to 8000 dollars for both – how do you propose they pay for that?
Keep up the good work and let us know what you find…
daffodils said
Where are you. Superman? They are looking for daffodils all over the the blog to no avail, searching in vain, are you going to show up again – the snow storm is over now.
The Other Victims of Battlefield Stress; Defense Contractors’ Mental Health Neglected « Defense Base Act Compensation Blog said
[…] Also see how these families are treated by AIG and CNA in the legal system […]
Barbara Dill said
If I was an honest Insurance Agency I would cover the cost of a PET scan or MRI of the brain to determine if the injury was there as they claim. After all it is the insurances obligation to pay claims for these injuries. THAT IS THEIR JOB! What is wrong with this picture? When a person sends in a claim on an automobile, let’s say for a fender bender.
They come right out and take pictures, why? So have it on record and then there will be no double claims. The scenario I see in my mind is this: The Government requires these companies carry DBA insurance. Okay the insurance sales man, with his mouth full of shiny cap teeth, sells the policy. Then when a claim comes through he doesn’t want to pay it. He’ll do just about anything not to cover the claim. The insurance is there for when something happens the people are covered. Look who is getting very wealthy here, Levy, McKenney, and others that have jumped on the band wagon that are just like them. I hear there are bonuses when they win a case preventing payment on a claim. Okay who all gets this bonus. I have another question, there has been a lot of employees actually caught lying under oath. Hummm, Did the company accidentally hire a bunch of pathological liars, or maybe these employees love the company they work for so much that they would risk going to jail by perjury on the stand? Maybe the employee is brown nosing for a promotion. Who knows, but their crimes should not go unpunished. The reason we have laws is to prevent this type of behavior. If the law is not enforced then why have it. All the while this is going on the defense attorney’s are creating so much chaos, turning everything into their own little circus of confusion. At my hearing the defense had 6 or 7 huge, (I mean huge), binders stuffed full of evidence? My attorney narrowed it down to three. Now the judge on my case is suppose to read all of their binders which probably have multiple duplications of fabricated claims. Maybe they are thinking if they repeat themselves enough that is what will stick in the judges mind and he will deny the claim. What would you call that? A weird form of brain washing? I have read several cases and if I was a defense attorney, I would NOT work for a firm that uses such unethical tactics. Yes, I have heard that is THEIR job. But to defend with lies? When I stepped down from the witness stand, my daughter broke down. She could not believe the vile things they were trying to say. Like she said, “They didn’t even know my Daddy”. The mental and emotional pain the claimants go through is unacceptable. So many claimants are already fragile emotionally and mentally and they tear at the wound. It’s a form of legally getting away with psychological abuse. I see an end is near, they are getting sloppy and the people of our beautiful United States are going to say enough is enough. Sorry, I’ll stop my ramble.
defensebaseactcomp said
Your thoughts on these issues are important to us all, and all of those who are landing in our situation daily.
You have been a great source of inspiration to us all.
We just hope that justice is soon served on your claim.
They are able to deny claims but they cannot much longer deny the wave of truth coming from many directions.
brit guy said
Let me say first of all to Barbara Dill
Feel free to ramble all you want I never knew your husband but I am sorry for loss.
DBA Blog well the last thing that these people are interested in is the truth.
They do not care of pain and suffering they cause nor do they care for lives they destroy.
My contempt for these people I find hard to put into words.
What staggers me more than anything is that they are able to do what they do is because brave men and women stand up to defend freedom.
A freedom they then abuse a freedom paid for with lives of people brave enough to defend it unlike the scum that abuse it.
Here is a thought maybe you could get it passed into law.
1. Any adjuster caught lying to reduce a claim and found guilty by a court. 2 years service in Iraq or Afghanistan.
2. Any attorney fighting a spurious claim and caught lying in court when judged by due process. 3 to 5 years in Iraq or Afghanistan.
3. Any Insurance company providing bad faith insurance 75% of yearly profits to the VA and new charity set up to help injured contractors and banned from anymore government or state contracts for 10 years.
This is the bit I really do not understand though why is it that despite all the evidence and growing concerns if the government should be believed they still give these companies the contracts. I saw the hearings about the DBA chaired by Senator Kucinich.
“I hope we are not sitting here year latter discussing the same things.”
Well sir you will be, guess what they are getting worse and yet nothing from the US government is forth coming to stop this abuse to those support the GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR
Barbara hang in there truth and justice will prevail that is if America as it claims is the home of brave the land of the free with justice and liberty for all.
That was until it was hijacked by the greedy few for their own personal gain as a non American do you think you can get your country back or are the insurance lobby groups a bigger voice than that of the people. Maybe your government can answer that let us all hope so.