John Keith Taylor sits aboard a T-38 jet in 1980 during Air Force training in Wichita, Texas, to become a maintenance technician. When Taylor sought disability compensation for tumors after he left military service in 1984, the Department of Veterans Affairs instead ordered a medical exam to evaluate him for scars. (John Keith Taylor)
WASHINGTON — John Keith Taylor developed dozens of painful tumors on his torso, arms and legs as an aircraft maintenance technician in the Air Force who handled jet fuel, hydraulic fluid and other chemicals more than 40 years ago.
But when Taylor sought disability compensation for the tumors after he left military service in 1984, the Department of Veterans Affairs instead ordered a medical exam to evaluate him for scars, not for the tumors embedded in muscle tissue that impaired his mobility.
He was denied a disability rating for scars without ever having an evaluation of the tumors, which was the focus of his claim for benefits.
After decades of frustration, Taylor is now working with a veterans service organization to correct the error in the VA claims file that led to subsequent denials of benefits as he sought disability compensation for his actual medical condition.
“It was a continual miscalculation and error that led to a 0% disability rating,” said Cindy Taylor, his wife.
The 64-year-old Arizona veteran is hardly alone with the problems he has experienced with oversight of the VA’s system for disability medical exams. Known as “comp and pension exams,” the evaluations are critical for determining benefits for millions of veterans with service-related illnesses and injuries.
The VA outsources more than 90% of the disability medical exams under a $13 billion multiyear contract.
But lawmakers say they are fielding a growing number of complaints from veterans about errors in VA’s orders that send veterans to the exams, as the number of disability claims has grown. In fiscal 2024, more than 2.5 million exams were completed, the VA said.
John Keith Taylor is shown in 1980 after Air Force basic training in Texas. Taylor, who sought disability compensation for painful tumors upon leaving the military in 1984, said a mislabeled order by the Department of Veterans Affairs for a medical evaluation — called a “comp and pension exam” — led to a denial for benefits. (John Keith Taylor)
Taylor said the VA has continued to evaluate his patient records for scars, even though he is seeking compensation for Dercum’s disease. The debilitating condition causes loss of movement, neurological problems, pain, swelling and fatigue.
“It’s very clear he applied for [benefits to treat] painful tumors, and they came back with a zero rating for painful scars. It is baffling,” Cindy Taylor said.
“Each time I requested a redress, I submitted new documentation showing the diagnosis and treatment for tumors,” said Taylor, who refiled claims in 1990, 1997, 2009 and 2017. But he continued to receive a disability rating of 0% for scars.
Army veteran Richard Oliver, 73, of North Carolina, said he was misdirected by the VA to a medical disability exam for bladder cancer when he actually had kidney cancer. “The exam was supposed to be for his kidney cancer and chronic kidney disease. But they [the VA] sent the wrong exam request. It was for the wrong body part,” said Michell Oliver, Richard’s wife.
The VA said this month at a hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on disability assistance and memorial affairs that it has strengthened internal reviews to address wrong orders for disability exams, scheduling mistakes and incomplete patient records reported by veterans affecting the quality of the exams.
“If an exam is wrong, incomplete, inaccurate or delayed, the veteran might not receive the benefits they earned from their service,” said Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, committee chairman.
In Taylor’s case, delays in fixing a simple error in his VA claims file persisted for decades, as he tried periodically to correct the problem, he said. “They mislabeled me as seeking compensation for scars and kept mislabeling me when I filed again,” Taylor said.
“My military medical files are replete with doctors’ notes about the tumors,” said Taylor, who was stationed from 1980 to 1984 at Williams Air Force Base, in Arizona. The base closed in 1993 after being listed as a Superfund cleanup site because of jet fuel in the drinking water.
“I drank the water even though it smelled like jet fuel. We had no other drinking source,” said Taylor, whose tumors have been connected to the contamination on base. “The VA has conceded there is a strong possibility that my problems are related to the harmful chemical exposures.”
In 2023, when Taylor refiled his disability claim for service-connected tumors, he again was directed by the VA to a medical evaluation for scars. “The nurse said to me, ‘Oh, you’re here for scars,’ ’’ Taylor said.
Although Taylor discussed the tumors and related medical reports in his file, the nurse said the VA order was to clinically review scars for disability compensation. The rating came back “zero.”
Taylor is now working with an accredited veterans service officer through a nonprofit veterans organization to correct his file and resubmit his claim. The officers provide free help to guide veterans through the claims process.
“It is a supplemental claim that will add even more information to the voluminous records that are already there,” Taylor said.
“We love our country and think the military is great, but the VA is broken,” Cindy Taylor said. “It is a convoluted system that discourages and intimidates veterans from applying for benefits. If you don’t mark every single box, they will deny and kick it back to the starting gate.”
