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Tinnitus Denied! Ugh!

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SergeantQ

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My hubby claim was recently denied for tinnitus. The rater wrote  in her notes ' least likely to have happened in service.' 

She didn't say anything in her notes about what my husband told her about how he was airborne for many years and jumped out of airplanes. How the noise and ringing from the helicopters clearly was a contributing factor. She never mentioned buddy or statement of case he turned in. His mos was admin (71lima) but the things he did under the umbrella of the mos (air assault, air borne jumper, generator operator) seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. My husband said she was very nice to him and he really thought she liked him and that the exam was going in his favor.  He also got one of them hearing audio pillows.  I told him she played him. and the truth is this is happening more and more each day. We are vets and they are just treating us like ish! Denying us and making us jump through hoops for 10 percent but paying the next vet $100k in back pay because of the hurry-up-and-wait concept. I'm sooooo freakin mad! 

Problem I'm having now is the va reduced my husband from 70% to 60% due to a rating calculations error. So, by dropping us to 60% next year we won't qualify for the Illinois state property tax exemption. Which is why we tried to go for tinnitus and get 10%. So that means next year if we don't find a way to get back up to 70% then that's $1400 dollars added back on to our mortgage. I'm just sick with worry right now. My husband over there sleeping like a baby but I'll be up all night. These rates can really ruin your life. Now I know why vets go postal! ??

Signed, flatlined

 

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NOD the decision and have your hubby to go to a private specialist ENT Dr and have them to conduct a hearing test and Maryland word discrimination test  using the VA Guidelines found here on hadit  and have your hubby to state to the Dr  he has a ringing/cricket., humming sound in his head  (this is what is described as tinnitus)  there are no test for it  so your hubby must tell the Dr about this  and have the Dr to read the medical record as to what he did in the military so the Dr can confirm its his opinion that its likely as not his noise hearing loss was caused by his prior military service,   veteran states he has not been around excess loud noise since leaving the military

based on military induced hearing loss.

a good impression from a private Specialist usually trumps the VA Docs   even if your hubby don't show  he has a hearing loss he still can have tinnitus... he got lowballed.

I would ask fo a DRO Hearing at my RO...and take the IMO & Send in it as your new material evidence.

also get notarized statements from family & friends  to testify  of his hearing loss and how it effects his life.

 

jmo

.........Buck

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This sounds exactly like my case.  I went to a C&P exam with a  contract doctor, he never wrote anything about my MOS and what I did in the Marines, VA denied the tinnitus claim.  Finally reopened the claim, same evidence, but VA did a new exam (this time with a VA doctor).  As soon as he found out I was a heavy equipment operator and shot a variety of weapons over 20 years, he was like YES, at least as likely as not to it being connected.  VA miraculously approved that claim.

Keep fighting and good luck...

 

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wow! that's crazy! It's so sad how they do the veterans. like whatever happened to the benefit of the doubt? We only want what's fair and just. Not trying to milk the system. We didn't even know about Tinnitus until another vet told him about it a few months ago. Seems like we are in the dark about a lot of things and then when you do find out - you are punished for not submitting a claim earlier. So you just can't win. But thanks for the encouraging words - we are certainly moving forward with the NOD.

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12 hours ago, SergeantQ said:

My hubby claim was recently denied for tinnitus. The rater wrote  in her notes ' least likely to have happened in service.' 

She didn't say anything in her notes about what my husband told her about how he was airborne for many years and jumped out of airplanes. How the noise and ringing from the helicopters clearly was a contributing factor. She never mentioned buddy or statement of case he turned in. His mos was admin (71lima) but the things he did under the umbrella of the mos (air assault, air borne jumper, generator operator) seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. My husband said she was very nice to him and he really thought she liked him and that the exam was going in his favor.  He also got one of them hearing audio pillows.  I told him she played him. and the truth is this is happening more and more each day. We are vets and they are just treating us like ish! Denying us and making us jump through hoops for 10 percent but paying the next vet $100k in back pay because of the hurry-up-and-wait concept. I'm sooooo freakin mad! 

Problem I'm having now is the va reduced my husband from 70% to 60% due to a rating calculations error. So, by dropping us to 60% next year we won't qualify for the Illinois state property tax exemption. Which is why we tried to go for tinnitus and get 10%. So that means next year if we don't find a way to get back up to 70% then that's $1400 dollars added back on to our mortgage. I'm just sick with worry right now. My husband over there sleeping like a baby but I'll be up all night. These rates can really ruin your life. Now I know why vets go postal! ??

Signed, flatlined

 

The rating calculation was an error so that means your husband was not entitled to that %.  That is something that happens but it basically means he wasn't entitled to that %.  Are you going to owe that money back?

You then tried for tinnitus after you figured out you were losing the 70%???  

The disability compensation is for a reason, to provide to a Veteran who has had issues while on AD and needs the help/treatment.  The compensation is secondary.

Tinnitus is not a contention you can prove/disprove.  In order to get tinnitus, I would have your husband file an NOD immediately, request a DRO hearing, submit a SOC to address why he feels he should be awarded the % and list his duty stations and what his field of work is.

It just troubles me that Veteran's try to find more issues in order to get their % up...Sorry I am not trying to be mean but that is what I am getting from your post.  I am sure you rely on that money but you have to understand it isn't permanent unless you are 100% P&T.  The Veteran is subjected to decreases/increases.  Now if he gets past 20 years, then he is good to go....

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45 minutes ago, SergeantQ said:

wow! that's crazy! It's so sad how they do the veterans. like whatever happened to the benefit of the doubt? We only want what's fair and just. Not trying to milk the system. We didn't even know about Tinnitus until another vet told him about it a few months ago. Seems like we are in the dark about a lot of things and then when you do find out - you are punished for not submitting a claim earlier. So you just can't win. But thanks for the encouraging words - we are certainly moving forward with the NOD.

If your husband has "ringing in the ears" that is a clear indication of Tinnitus.  It's proving it is S/C while on AD that is the uphill battle.

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