Ex-Wife Gave Key Evidence to Convict Navy Veteran of VA Fraud

Jury: Blythewood man defrauded VA, Social Security of $1.5 million in claiming hyped-up MS disabilities 
The State
John Monk
January 22, 2106

The case is unusual in that such a large amount of alleged fraud – a combined $1.5 million in VA and Social Security benefits, mostly from the VA – by one person is seldom-rarely brought to trial or even investigated by the government.

Dennis Paulsen leaving court earlier
this week. John Monk The State

COLUMBIA, SC
A federal jury on Friday found a Blythewood man guilty of stealing $1.5 million from the Veterans Administration and Social Security by falsely claiming for years that he suffered extreme impairments from multiple sclerosis.

While the man, Dennis Paulsen, 45, did in fact have multiple sclerosis, government prosecutors presented evidence during the six-day trial that Paulsen had for years led an active life that enabled him to claim some $9,400 a month in tax-free benefits instead of a far lesser amount.

The yearly tax-free income of some $112,000 from the VA and Social Security enabled Paulsen to live a nice life – unlike most people, Paulsen didn’t have a regular job – at his two-story home in Blythewood, which he shared for years with his now ex-wife, Kristine, and two sons.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that Paulsen had for years led a highly active life, playing multiple sports at a high level and even running in the Marine Corps Mud Run in 2008. On the last leg of that mud run, he picked up a stretcher with a person on it and lugged it to the finish line, evidence showed.

Key pieces of evidence were photos and writings from an Internet blog kept by Paulsen’s former wife, Kristine Paulsen, from about 2006-2011. During that time, Dennis Paulsen was receiving his major benefits.

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Webcams follow Great Dane service pups

Webcams follow Great Dane service pups
The 3-month-old dogs will soon begin training to assist mobility-impaired veterans and people with diseases like multiple sclerosis.
By Laura Moss
Sep 17 2012

Explore.org's newest webcams allow viewers to watch six 3-month-old Great Danes as they transform from playful pups to balance support service dogs at the Service Dog Project training center in Ipswich, Mass.

Similar to the organization’s first service puppy cam, which followed six golden retriever puppies being trained to help veterans with PTSD, the Great Dane cams feature Perry, Lola, Ebony, Mia, Willow and Roxanne as they play, grow and explore their indoor and outdoor environments. In a few weeks, the pups will begin training to assist mobility-impaired veterans and people with diseases like multiple sclerosis and Friedreich’s ataxia.

“Great Danes are generally the best balance support dogs due to their large, sturdy size and docile behavior indoors,” said Carlene White, director of Service Dog Project Inc., in a news release. “By teaming up with explore.org, people now have a chance to witness these beautiful dogs transition from cute little animals to enormous support systems for balance-impaired people and their families, all in real time.”
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Woman exposed to Camp Lejeune toxic chemicals has MS

Woman Claims Camp Lejeune Made Her Sick
Posted: Sep 04, 2012
By Mark Kelly

Lynchburg, VA - A local woman's connection to a story has gotten lots of national, even international attention.

It was 1981 when officials first said there could be a problem with the water at Camp Lejeune. They found a metal degreaser and a fuel compound in that water - the same water service members and their families used to cook, wash and drink.

Diana White now lives in Madison Heights, but she lived at Camp Lejeune as an infant and has fought for years to try to get her medical bills covered. Now, a new law is giving her hope.

In 2000, doctors diagnosed Diana White with Multiple Sclerosis. MS gives her pain in her hands, arms even eyes. No one in her family has MS, and she blames Camp Lejeune.

"It's disgusting because they destroyed me when I was still in my mom's womb. And they knew it," said White.

White's dad was a Marine. Her family lived on the base and drank the water.

"You bathed in it, you drank it, you washed in it," said White.
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Canadian Court links soldier's MS to post-traumatic stress

Troy Fleece For The National Post
The Federal Court ruled Dennis Patterson should receive a military pension for the multiple sclerosis he claims was caused by post-traumatic stress he suffered in the military.

Court links soldier's MS to post-traumatic stress
Veteran should receive pension for illness: ruling

Tom Blackwell, National Post
Published: Tuesday, September 08, 2009


A recent court ruling has raised unusual new concerns about the post-traumatic stress that afflicts a growing number of Canadian soldiers, concluding that such anxiety may have helped cause multiple sclerosis in an air force veteran.

The Federal Court said a review board should reconsider granting Dennis Patterson -- who flew missions to such hot spots as Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda -- a pension for his MS, given the possible link to on-the-job stress. Such pensions are meant for injuries or diseases triggered by military duty, much like the benefits awarded by civilian workers' compensation boards address workplace injury.

Multiple sclerosis is usually considered a chronic illness and the neurological disorder's exact causes remain somewhat of a mystery, but experts say stress can at least spark individual attacks or make symptoms seem more intense.

In Mr. Patterson's case, the "uncontradicted" medical evidence was that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) actually prompted or exacerbated the MS, Justice Russel Zinn of the Federal Court ruled recently.
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http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1970275

Friend's struggle sparked an MS mission

Friend's struggle sparked an MS mission
By Ernest Hooper, Metro Columnist
In print: Saturday, September 13, 2008


Jackie Callaway and Michele Green shared a special bond during their early 20s.

Like many young women, they went out to eat, watched movies and just enjoyed sharing stories in a small Central Florida community north of Tampa.

Through the years, they kept in touch as Callaway's broadcasting career took her to a radio station in Tampa, then to a television station in Orlando. Michele blossomed too, working at an insurance agency and becoming the quintessential soccer mom with two young children.

One day in the late 1990s, Jackie was preparing to do a live shot in Lake County for the Orlando station. A car pulled over and a voice called out, "Hey Jackie, it's Michele."

"Her mom was driving, and I didn't recognize Michele, the vibrant light of a person I knew," said Callaway, now the consumer reporter for WFTS-Ch. 28. "She tells me right there on the side of the road that she has multiple sclerosis. She starts crying, and I'm fighting back tears.

"From then on, we stayed connected."

Callaway began visiting Michele on a regular basis, first at Michele's home, then at a nursing home as the MS slowly took her life.

"I had never experienced anything like that," Callaway said. "I was clueless about MS until watching Michele go through it. I kept asking friends, can't we do something about this terrible disease?"

Michele died in 2002, but Callaway's passion to help lives on.
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article808596.ece