silke

Bon, thanks for your response...and you're right, I'm doing this to prevent this from happening to someone else. Berta, Thanks for your time in explaining this to me. I was never real clear on 1151's. I would like to cite you some documentation to clear some things up: Husband was awarded 100% P&T June 2011..incompetence was proposed..in the award letter it stated: "It appears that you may be entitled to service connection for tardive dyskinesia, as secondary to your service connection, as you have experienced a complication due to the side effects of medication." ......this was the first time I was made aware of what was happening to him, I have asked the doc in the past about his increasing movements and such and they simple said it is a side effect of the meds...they never put a name on it. However in the treatment notes it was mentioned and that's why the rater made the above statement. I ordered his notes and then went to a VSO for review......he advised me to file immediately and helped me file the claim. 6 months go by and he gets a new p-doc...the third in 3 years. This one tells me to file for SMC and filled out a HB/AA exam... In the exam paperwork it essentially states the need for A&A due to symptoms of his SC schizophrenia and tardive dyskinesia. This doc lasted about a year and we moved. The new doc is a psych/neuro doc, he was contacted by the RO last December, the rater stated he needed to be diagnosed in order to rate the claim..which he proceeded to do and was the first and only one to do so. However, he does not want any involvement with any legal claims. When we received the award letter, there have been some changes: "Although we have not changed the way we consider and decide claims, we have changed the way we inform you of our decision. This single streamlined notice includes the essential information previously contained in a separate rating decision." All that it says in the notice is: "We determined that the following condition was related to your military service, so service connection has been granted for tardive dyskinesia at 80%. We granted entitlement to special monthly compensation because you need the regular aid and attendance of another person. In this case there is an additional benefit granted because the aid and attendance is based on your service connected schizophrenia and the additional separate service connected disability of tardive dyskinesia evaluated as greater than 50%." .....and that was it. There was no C&P exam done. There must have been ample evidence in the treatment notes to rate this, some of these docs will not release his records to him. However, from what I do have, they were fully aware of his condition and the downward spiral he was on and did absolutely nothing. I'm going to talk to a VSO, hopefully a competent one, and find a forensic psychiatrist for a IMO....time is running out on a FTCA...........thanks for listening and your advice!

Not sure If I have a case here, please advise. My husband started going to a VA Clinic in 2009. He was prescribed a drug called risperidone by a psych doc. After 6 months or so he began to shake, and had involuntary movements....not severe but noticeable. The drug was not effective so they kept raising the dose.....over time his involuntary movements became worse. We went to a C&P exam in 2010 for a schizophrenia claim and it was mentioned in the exam report that he had Tardive Dyskinesia.....a involuntary movement disorder brought on by the meds he was prescribed....this was the first time that I was made aware of his condition. I ordered his treatment notes and his doc was aware of what was going on with my husband. For the next two years he was kept on a high dose of risperidone and his condition became severe....he has constant involuntary movements, has a speech impairment, gait problems and has almost lost use of his hands.....I filed a claim for TD and was given an 80% rating permanent as well as SMC L for A&A. Last summer we moved and went to a new clinic, and was seen by a psychiatrist/neurologist, he seemed surprised by my husbands condition and immediately took him off the risperidone and started a different drug. He also, for the first time, documented a diagnosis of Neroleptic Induced Tardive Dyskinesia....unfortunately his condition is now permanent and there Is no treatment for it...he will be like this for the rest of his life. I have read extensive medical documents on this. From what I have read, at the first signs of tardive dyskinesia the offending drug should be discontinued, continued treatment would cause worsening of symptoms and condition will become permanent...and that's exactly what happened. I feel the doctors were negligent in his care...something should have been done a long time ago.

Congratulations 1. In order to get CHAMPVA (med insurance for your dependents) your condition must be considered permanent in nature. When you get your award letter they will tell you if you are eligible and include all the paperwork. 2. You can get a military ID to use the commissary, bx/px, mwr. Dental care. Many states also offer benefits such as property tax exemption, car tags, etc. 3. You cannot work if your rated for a mental disorder. Otherwise you are free too. Educational benefits are available as well if that is something you are interested in. 4. No, and if you owe for any co-pays or meds from the past, those will be dropped. 5. I do not know how severe your disablity is, but if your able to, you should consider working or going back to school, even if its just part time. You are still young and sitting around the house for decades is gonna drive you nuts eventually. At the very least, find some hobbies to keep your mind occupied. ....Im sure others will chime in with more info....Thank your for your service!!!

UPDATE: According to an online report from the Wall Street Journal on June 20, 2012, "Johnson & Johnson and the Justice Department are close to settling a protracted investigation into the company’s promotion of the antipsychotic Risperdal, for what would be one of the highest sums to date in a drug-marketing case. The sides are trying to wrap together a number of lawsuits, state investigations and other probes of alleged illegal marketing, and are discussing a payment of $1.5 billion or higher." Ive personally seen what this drug can do to a human and it aint pretty...unfortunately, in my husbands case there really was no alternative..no other meds really worked.....either he was gonna be severly psychotic or we had to deal with movement disorders, parkinsons like symptoms, lactation, drooling, weight gain, diabetes and zoombie like. I suggest anyone on this med for anything other than bi-polar or schizo ask their doctor for a alternative, especially at the higher doses. Some of these side effects are permanent even after withdrawing the med. Tardive Dyskinesia (involuntary movement disorder) is a classic one.

I called the 800 number this morning and the pre-determination claim is for the incompetency issue, I will have to wait to get the decision letter to get any more information. I asked about these types of claims and they said, generally speaking, a "predetermination" claim can mean several different things. They could be proposing a rating of incompetence for VA purposes, they could be proposing a reduction in VA benefits, they could be proposing to remove or add a specific dependent from the Veteran's award, etc....those were the examples they game me.......I suggested they make this a bit more clear on E-bennies. Thank you for your time and service Cooter!.......have a great day!

I have no claims other than Im awaiting an appointment as fidicuary for my husband...my husband was rated 100% permanent last year, which shows up as closed on ebene's, but there is an imcompetency issue. It would make sense if that was it, but no field agent has shown up yet for a visit and no retro money has been deposited...... The strange thing is that the predetermination claim opened on the day of his comp award (6-27-2011) and just closed yesterday and they sent out a letter....Ill let you guys know what it says if your interested......Have a great weekened!!

Hello all, On our e-bennies acount under claims status it has an open claim thats simply labeled as "Claim Type: Predetermination"....I have no clue as to what this could be, has anyone ever seen this before? Thank you all

Based on the exam, what do you think his odds are of getting A&A?

This was completed by my husbands psychiatrist, we have an awesome doc who suggested we apply for A&A and voluntereed to do this without us even asking for it......I thought I would post key points so you all can have an idea of what should be on one of these...... From form 21-2680 Diagnosis: Schizophrenia, paranoid w/depression, GAD 21 is the claimant able to feed himself? No If veterans wife does not feed him he will not remember to eat or drink. Sometimes requires assistance in feeding himself due to tremors. 23 Does the claimant need assistance in bathing and tending to other hygiene needs?yes needs prompting and encouragement in taking care of hygiene. Is unable to initiate activity and focus well enough to complete tasks of daily living. 25 Does the claimant require nursing home care? No But does need to live in a protected environment or assisted living. 26 Does claimant require medication management? Yes The veteran cannot be relied on to take his required medications on his own, and he requires the constant monitoring of another to ensure that he does, which assistance is being provided by his wife. 27 Does the claimant have the ability to manage his financial affairs. No Veterans wife takes care of financial matters. VA has proposed incompetency. 33 Describe how often per day or week and under what circumstances the claimant is able to leave the home or immediate premises. The veteran is unable to leave the premises on his own due to the inablity to care for himself, delusional thinking, and hallucinations. Veteran would be at high risk for injury or psychotic break if not accompanied at all times when leaving his home. ....hopefully this will speed things up and maybe we wont need a C&P, if so I will bring this with to the C&P. Thanks for reading.

I filed for a secondary claim back in august....On ebenefits its says "Open Claims information is not available at this time"....Im new to ebenefits and was wondering if this is normal?

What is he SC'd for and what percentage levels for each. You could go ahead and have his doc fill out the 21-2680 and post the results here first - for comment. I am not posting to NOT file for A&A - I am cautioning that claimants need to be positive this is what they want to do - prior to having protected ratings. Some of this caution is due to examples posted by scscrewed.

"Filing for anything opens the file up for review. The VA is known for scrutinizing everything once the thing is open. They look at every service connected injury and they look at the ratings, and they sometimes start calling for c and ps all over again." wow, if thats the case...then withdrawing all claims may be in the best interest of my husband...psychiatric diagnosis are subjective and speculative at best...its is not uncommon to get multiple diagnosis's over time...just as you will get different opinoins from different psych examiners. We are happy with what we have and are not willing to jeopardize it...this isnt about greed!...Happy Holidays!!

Your post makes me a bit nervous...would you care to elaborate?....I just filed for A&A for my husband, it was actually suggested by his doctor and she will support this and was willing to fill out VA Form 21-2680

Do ya know what dose they are starting you on?

Berta..Im the wife and am wishing to be appointed as the fidicuary....We just wanted this done and over with, and the lawyer said this was the quickest and easiest way to do that.