tinnitus Va Turned Down Claim

[68mustang]

Recently I put in a claim for hearing loss and vertigo. The VA denied the hearing loss, but has let the vertigo claim go forward. The reason the VA stated for denying the hearing loss claim was that last year I had put in a claim for hearing loss, which was denied and that I did not appeal the decision within the one year time limit. I did file a claim for tinnitus, and did not file a hearing loss claim. The tinnitus claim was approved and I received a 10% rating. The award letter states that my tinnitus claim was approved and nowhere in the letter does it state that a hearing loss claim was denied. The VA also states that in order for the hearing loss claim to continue, that I need to provide new evidence which has not been previously used.

The doctor's report that I sent in last year for the tinnitus claim stated the I had tinnitus and hearing loss due to acoustic trauma while in the military.

The doctor's report was used on the tinnitus claim, should that report be allowed to support my hearing loss claim since I had not previously file for hearing loss claim in last years original tinnitus claim?

Any input that you all might have would be appreciated. Thanks.

68mustang

[rentalguy1]

you caught me just in time i will take your advice,but i am pissed with that cavc

decision.

It's not a CAVC opinion, it's a Federal Court of Appeals decision; one step higher than CAVC. Be sure to remember this the next time you vote for US Representatives, US Senators and the President. They are the ones who appoint these morons who think it is ok to legislate from the bench.

[john999]

How do we know this decision will become common practice thoughout the VA? It is going to create chaos. If they do the denial thing it will make writing NOD's difficult because you won't know why your claims were denied. If you have five claims and one is denied you have to assume the others were denied, but you have no idea why? How can you write a decent NOD. If you do write a generic NOD will you get back a SOC that is specific to all the denied claims? I get a feeling the denied claims will be lost in space. I know why they did this move because the VA pushed them to do it to cut down on the paperwork to write denials for veterans filing large numbers of claims. I think this is something that younger vets are doing now since they are better prepared than us old guys. I think in reality it is unworkable, and does not allow due process.

[LarryJ]

All I can say is "they sure screwed up". Of course, this will just make the utterly ridiculous seem simply sublime. And provide more income for lawyers..............wait, you don't think that those lawyers who become judges...................naw, what a silly assumption on my part.

[purple]

so basically from now on vets will have to carefully screen their claims to make sure that only one medical condition is mentioned per claim to make sure this doesn't happen???? so that there are no assumptions made by the ROs???

[68mustang]

How do we know this decision will become common practice thoughout the VA? It is going to create chaos. If they do the denial thing it will make writing NOD's difficult because you won't know why your claims were denied. If you have five claims and one is denied you have to assume the others were denied, but you have no idea why? How can you write a decent NOD. If you do write a generic NOD will you get back a SOC that is specific to all the denied claims? I get a feeling the denied claims will be lost in space. I know why they did this move because the VA pushed them to do it to cut down on the paperwork to write denials for veterans filing large numbers of claims. I think this is something that younger vets are doing now since they are better prepared than us old guys. I think in reality it is unworkable, and does not allow due process.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. I went to the DAV this morning for help with denied claim for hearing loss. Last night through IRIS I sent a request for my c-file and a copy of the 2007 "phantom" denial letter for hearing loss. I don't believe that the denial letter ever existed. DAV rep. told me that when I receive the documents to go back and we'll see what we need to do. I feel that it we be an uphill battle, but I am up for it. I am not going to let the VA get away with an inferred hearing loss claim if that is what happened. Plus I will be sending a letter to my Congressman about the VA'S "Deemed Denied" ruling from 2006. I read the the info on the ruling and all I saw was that if multiple claims were made and if one was denied all others would be deemed denied. In my case I only filed for tinnitus and not for hearing loss. The tinnitus claim was approved and there is no paperwork denying a hearing loss calim. Again thanks.

68mustang

[LarryJ]

so basically from now on vets will have to carefully screen their claims to make sure that only one medical condition is mentioned per claim to make sure this doesn't happen???? so that there are no assumptions made by the ROs???

Yuppers, that's the way it looks to me.

Just more darn paper to shredd.