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Claims Process/regional Office

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wildcat

Question

I have been reading hadit.com as a "guest" for many months now. I think

the advice given out by Tbird and others has been excellent. My claim for

PTSD,Aggravtion of "bi-polar condition", heart, etc has been in Seattl just over

a year now. I k now this not bad as many vets claims have taken considerably

longer.

I called the 800 # last week and the person said my claim has been up to

"the review panel twice". I can't understand the problem / situation. I have

a letter from my LA shrink ( a VA pysch. examiner for 15 yrs. early in his

career) stating definite aggravation of bi-polar "if the board is reasonable".

I was doped up massively on Thorazine and in Vally Forge Hosp. 400 miligrams

and was a "zombie". Some call it a chemical labotomy (sp). This was back in 1967-

and yes I am a boots on ground Nam vet.

Saw my VA shrink yesterday..."mood disorders clinic" and gave him an article

about the bad effects of Thorazine. He agreed. He appears to processing me

for a "major depressive disorder" rating. Or, that is the feeling I am getting.

Is the Seattle panel awaiting a VA shrink opinion because THEY don't believe

my private sector shrink of 9 years. I worked for LA unified school in south

central for 10 years. I went "off on the job" to my supervisor and went on sick

leave for 30 days. Had to be evaluated by an independent shrink before

returning to a transfer job.

I was a sp. ed. administrator too for many years and can't believe the extremely

poor process to notifiy Vietnam vets of what is available to them during 1965 - 1971.

In Sp.Ed. legislation (1975) all school districts had to do "Search and Serve"

notices in newspapers, etc to notify people that if they had a child with problems-

contact your local school district. This was LAW! Now as a 63 year old man with

a stent in his heart, loyal citizen, I chat with a 51 yr. old shrink was in jr. hi when

I started basic traing in Fort Bliss in May 1966.

Should I relax and just wait for Seattle to make a decision. Or do I have to been

more depressed in my November session so the Portland shrink will state major

depression...and nofify Seattle

Wildcat Bien Hoa 1967 - 68

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RO's do not dot the I's,  cross the T's, nor look up the big words they do not understand. My first denial was totally based on the fact that the RO did not associate the fact that different doctors use different diagnostic terms for the same condition.  Had they looked up the diagnostic terms they would not have made such a blunder as to say I was not treated in-service for my condition. 

In my second denial the RO started to make up new laws.  I learned how to argue against these when I started researching trust laws.  The RO did what attorneys call "inventing false standards of law".  The RO turned medical principals into legal arguments.  Service connection is not based on a specific number of diagnostic references in the SMR. Would you believe they denied it the second time saying there were not enough references in my SMR.  That is a false standard of law.  There is no law that says how many times the condition needs to be diagnosed.  The medical principals established by medical opinions determine how many events are necessary.  In my case the condition was diagnosed in service and had no known cure.  Thus, once you have it you will always have it. 

The problem is that the RO's adjudicators are undertrained.  They wind up on tangents that they should never venture into.  That is why you wind up taKing cases to DRO's and the BVA.  The senior adjudicators have a better understanding of the lasw do a better job.

Hoppy

100% for angioedema with secondary conditions

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I guess there are a lot of cases where an IMO meant something for a veteran at the VARO level. But, my husband had an IMO from his eye doctor and used all the words the VARO should have wanted to hear. Couldn't get the VAMC to do this. The VARO again denied his claim, even with the IMO. When we got to the BVA level, they gave him an instant approval on his eyes. Took 5+ years to get this to happen. There are so many variables that are involved in filing a claim that no one will ever know exactly how to file a claim to get a fair rating. I could file a claim for a specific issue and get it approved in 3 months. Someone else could file the same claim, the same way, with the same evidence and either get it quickly denied or it takes years to get a decision. Talk about confusing and frustrating.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

I don't think people at VA worry much about being fired its usually where to take their next break and stuff like that.

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Peter

You have the VA figured out. The only thing they worry about is their pension and the next break. I used to work their at the VAMC in Tampa for about a year. Never have so many done so little for so much.

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  • HadIt.com Elder
I guess there are a lot of cases where an IMO meant something for a veteran at the VARO level.  But, my husband had an IMO from his eye doctor and used all the words the VARO should have wanted to hear.  Couldn't get the VAMC to do this.  The VARO again denied his claim, even with the IMO.  When we got to the BVA level, they gave him an instant approval on his eyes.  Took 5+ years to get this to happen.  There are so many variables that are involved in filing a claim that no one will ever know exactly how to file a claim to get a fair rating.  I could file a claim for a specific issue and get it approved in 3 months.  Someone else could file the same claim, the same way, with the same evidence and either get it quickly denied or it takes years to get a decision.  Talk about confusing and frustrating.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wildcat,

It sounds like you have some good perspective at this time. One thing I suggest you do is become familiar with the rasting schedule for your specific disabilities and how they are rated. It will give you an idea of the type of comments you find in medical reports to point out to the raters during the process. You will find yourself in a position of telling them how to do their job. It seems like they will take advantage of anything that you do not let them know you are aware of. There is a fine line between the duty to assist and the veterans responsibility to advance his claim in a manner that supports the claim.

missoup1

At an time early in my appeaL process I took it upon myself to read many different BVA cases. They were available on a link on hadits main page. I found cases where the evidence was almost identical. In one case it was denied in another it was awarded. Some cases were totally determined on what was clearly flawed application of the law.

The single best way to win a claim is to vocus on the medical evidence and the exact terminology used by doctors who write reports. The doctors reports that are most comprehensive and specific as to evidence that supports service connection will be given the most weight by adjudicators. Many of the cases I read became battles between doctors opinions. The BVA sometimes gets real tired of superficial medical reports used by the RO's and calls for panels of doctors and specialists to figure out what is going on.

Hoppy

100% for Angioedema with secondary conditions

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Hoppy,

Just found your helpful advice and will follow it. I don't know the status of my case as I have not

received any "paper" from the Seattle VA office. I will phone their # 800 tomorrow and see what's

up.

I expect a denial or an extreme lowball. This is THEIR usual process for a first time claim. I will gather

all pertinent evidence and research my case. Of course I will file an immediate NOD, etc.

Thanks again,

Wild Cat Bien Hoa 1967

Wildcat,

It sounds like you have some good perspective at this time. One thing I suggest you do is become familiar with the rasting schedule for your specific disabilities and how they are rated. It will give you an idea of the type of comments you find in medical reports to point out to the raters during the process. You will find yourself in a position of telling them how to do their job. It seems like they will take advantage of anything that you do not let them know you are aware of. There is a fine line between the duty to assist and the veterans responsibility to advance his claim in a manner that supports the claim.

missoup1

At an time early in my appeaL process I took it upon myself to read many different BVA cases. They were available on a link on hadits main page. I found cases where the evidence was almost identical. In one case it was denied in another it was awarded. Some cases were totally determined on what was clearly flawed application of the law.

The single best way to win a claim is to vocus on the medical evidence and the exact terminology used by doctors who write reports. The doctors reports that are most comprehensive and specific as to evidence that supports service connection will be given the most weight by adjudicators. Many of the cases I read became battles between doctors opinions. The BVA sometimes gets real tired of superficial medical reports used by the RO's and calls for panels of doctors and specialists to figure out what is going on.

Hoppy

100% for Angioedema with secondary conditions

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