ptsd Dic Denied

[4ransom]

I was so disappointed to get my letter of denial for dic benefits. I have been denied due to Service connection for cause of death. My husband had Chronic PTSD and a disability of 50%. He was fighting for a 100% and died

with a heart attack first. I will file a NOD to appeal this decision.

I had a death certificate stating the heart attack was caused from PTSD. I have also asked the VA to reconsider the disability to 100%.

I really need this dic benefit due to me being disable myself. If anyone has any good advice I sure would appreciate it.

Best of luck to all.

[john999]

4ransom

Keep fighting! Do not accept NO for an answer. I think Berta could advise you on this. I think you will win in the end but it may take time.

[Guest Berta]

John is soooo right!

They know widows are under terrible pain and stress and usually sudden financial problems

and ,if you have a NSO like I did a decade ago,- you will not get any support there at all either-

I assume (and hope) that you filed the 21-534 and that you filled out the whole thing.

They must consider you for a pension if the vet was wartime-

then they see if your income is too high and they will deny it or send you a small pension- this can take as long as a regular claim-

On the 21-526 I assume that you stated SC was the cause of death and that you were filing for "accrued benefits".

You are re-opening the veteran's claim- as he had a claim in progress- as I understand the post-

they must re-adjudicate that under your name and make a decision-

you can support this with additional medical evidence at any time.

If you have a SO who tells any of you the "claim died wth the vet"

(this was SOP for many SOs in the past) in essense that is true but they often fail to tell widows the claim can be resurrected in their name-the SO I had was shocked that I knew I could re-open- establish two claims and he was mad- because

he had to do some paperwork for me-he didnt even know what DIC stands for.

Unfortunately we certainly have widowers of vets too-that probably get the same treatment from SOs and the VA.

"had a death certificate stating the heart attack was caused from PTSD."

This is evidence-BUT

they will probably question the rationale here-

was this a coroner's statement? Is the coroner a ME also? and a physician?

The coroner here told me he fully felt that PTSD was a contributory cause of my husband's death-

I live near a VA and there are many vets-he is very aware of PTSD and vet illnesses.

However, they do not put PTSD on death certificates-in this state -they just ask what the deceased was being treated for.

it is unusally for this to be put on a death certificate-unless you had medical evidence prior from a doctor that PTSD had caused or contributed to his heart condition and the coroner knew this or possibly knew your husband's medical problems prior to his death.

If you have medical evidence to support what the coroner put-

or can get a medical opinion supporting what he put, they would certainly have to consider this and widows have gotten DIC due to PTSD as contributing to death at the BVA or the court.They had medical evidence to prove it- a bonafide medical opinion -that the VA could not challenge.

Fight the rating too- for the 100% and send them anything you can to support this-

Have they acknowledged the accrued benefit claim for a higher posthumous rating?

They will need evidence that his SC fell into a higher criteria.

It took me three years for the accrued award and almost 4 years for DIC.

My VARO is addressing NODs that were filed well over a year ago.

This will take time. Use that time to get as much medical evidence as you can.

Edited March 24, 2006 by Berta

[Pete53]

Good luck to you. There are plenty of decisions from VA that link Heart Attacks to PTSD.