Appeal To The Court Of Veterans Appeals

[DisVet in Belgium]

I was a member of this group 10 years ago and we laughed at the time vets had spent waiting for decisions from the VA. Some only a few years of dealing with the VA, then there were many more waiting 10 to 20 years, I had recorded 30 years back then. Now ten years later the VA will finely after many remands, and filling out VA form 9 three times, (the VA still is misplacing our records,) let me appeal my claims to the Court. Maybe.

(From a remanded appeal by the Court in 2001.)

I am appealing a number of issues of the remand but they all end up at the same starting point for service connection.

When an initial claim is taken (1971), is it a CUE if there is proof that needed assistance was not provided? If the VA at the time was in complete control of the original service records and medical records (more then two years of Naval hospitalizations and outpatient treatments), that clearly prove service related injuries causing symptoms of disabilities; is there not a law that this evidence must be prepared by the RO for consideration and adjudication for service connection? Can this evidence show CUE or something else, to prove my appeal to the Court? The VA in it's last Board denial states that after 40 years of continuous request (which I thought were claims for benefits of veterans benefits of injuries clearly shown were received while on duty in the service, treated with two years plus of Naval hospitalizations and medical outpatients treatments and a large number of hospitalizations in VA and private hospitals, with a number of surgeries with years of outpatient treatments, that I had not applied for a 'formal claim' yet.

Reason for adjudication: Continued claims from 1971 for service-connection and veterans benefits. In a request made in 2005, by my late lawyer, for compensation of listed service-connected disabilities, found in many VA records and decisions, was turned into a 'new claim' by the VA. Months of letters, faxes and e-mails explaining that the service connection had been ruled on in 1970's and I believed, granted, were ignored and went unanswered by the VA's RO. Service connection was re-awarded for the service-connected disabilities and now the compensation claim has been awarded.

[Berta]

When an initial claim is taken (1971), is it a CUE if there is proof that needed assistance was not provided?

No- Duty to Assist regulations are not the basis for CUE claims.

If the denied and unappealed older claim contained legal errors that altered the outcome-to the veteran's detriment- that would be basis for fling a CUE on the old decision.

Much CUE info is here under the CUE forum.

They said you had not applied for a "formal" claim yet?

When did you send them the 21-526-that would be the earliest claim date of what you applied for.

"Service connection was re-awarded for the service-connected disabilities and now the compensation claim has been awarded."

If this is a case of newly discovered service records (please read the topic on that-in CLaims Research-I just posted the reg again here the other day-

you sure might well have a basis to claim a better effective date.

Can you scan these decisions (cover personal stuff) and attach and post them here or give us the Docket and Citations numbers for these two BVA cases- if we can read them at the BVA web site maybe we can help more:

"From a remanded appeal by the Court in 2001."

"The VA in it's last Board denial states that after" ....