AIDS Read. 2008 Jan ;18 (1):43-8 18240452 (P,S,E,B)
[My paper] , , ,
Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
We evaluated a cohort of persons with late-stage HIV infection currently enrolled in a longitudinal tracking study to determine whether coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is associated with a greater prevalence and/or severity of HIV-associated cognitive-motor complex and distal predominantly sensory peripheral polyneuropathy compared with persons with HIV infection alone. Of 159 subjects, 31 tested positive for HCV, and this group was compared with 31 randomly selected subjects with HIV infection alone. All subjects underwent a structured neurological examination and a formal neuropsychological testing battery. Blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples were analyzed for cryoglobulins and glutamine levels, respectively. HIV/HCV-coinfected subjects showed a greater, statistically significant cognitive-motor impairment compared with those not coinfected. Despite the well-recognized neurological manifestations of both HIV infections and more recently hepatitis C, it is still uncertain whether the effects of HIV and HCV augment one another or are partially additive in their deleterious effects on the nervous system.
HCOP salutes you for taking good advice. We hope this is just the beginning of many studies we suggested to you and Dr. Lazarus.
Since this story was published, Judge Tielens (Portland) again denied the claim. As I write this, we await another hearing. We have the support of the VA hepatologist t the Portland VA and we can’t find anyone that can understand the judge’s reliance on an “employment specialist” working for the court, who believes Greg could be a parking attendant and sit all day! Peripheral neuropathy, anyone?
Meanwhile, I have been hospitalized twice since March and recovery included total bedrest and constant medical supervision. Consequently, HCOP has not asked for grants and income has been down to a trickle.
This mess has been put in the hands of a lawyer we hope can sort it all out.
Trapped - VA says the former Navy corpsman is disabled but Social Security says noMARK LARABEE
As a Navy corpsman in Florida during the Vietnam War, Greg Hanbey was exposed to a lot of blood as he treated men wounded in combat.
It wasn’t until 1987 that he learned he was infected with hepatitis C. The Veterans Affairs Department eventually ruled that his work in the Navy was the most likely cause.
Although Hanbey’s liver is still functioning, damage from the disease causes him problems. He has trouble standing for long periods. He has focus and memory problems. And he tires easily. The stress of working and the pressure to overcome these disabilities caused his health to suffer further.
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In 1993, the VA ruled Hanbey 10 percent disabled. But by 2002, after employment retraining and evaluation programs, the agency ruled him 60 percent disabled and determined he was 100 percent unemployable.
He is now 54 and receives health care and monthly disability payments from the VA. He said the VA has treated him very well.
When Hanbey was told his disability was so severe he couldn’t work, the VA advised him to apply for disability income through Social Security Disability Insurance. Funded by a payroll tax — which Hanbey paid for 20 years — the program is designed to give disabled people money to live on. To get the money, applicants must provide medical proof that they have a mental or physical problem that limits their ability to work.
Hanbey thought he had that proof. But his application for Social Security disability benefits were repeatedly denied. Teresa Hanbey said the Social Security Administration wants more proof that her husband can’t work. She says the VA’s “unemployable” determination isn’t good enough for Social Security, which has asked for more medical tests because the information they are looking at is old.
But she says the VA is telling them the determination has been made and that Greg Hanbey is not entitled to more tests. They have appealed Social Security’s denials and have a hearing in June.
“In order for him to prove that he cannot work, he’d have to give up his VA benefits, get a job, go downhill and get sick, lose his job and have nothing,” Teresa Hanbey said. “Then he’d have to apply again to Social Security and the VA.”
The Portland couple say they are caught in limbo between two government bureaucracies.
“Why is it that one federal system cannot accept a decision from another federal system?” Teresa Hanbey asks.
Greg Hanbey, who counsels veterans infected with hepatitis C, said there’s one thing he’d rather be doing than fighting with bureaucrats over benefits he believes he’s entitled to.
“I’d rather be working, if I could,” he said. “That’s for sure.”
