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MarkInTexas

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Everything posted by MarkInTexas

  1. OK Folks, Been a while since I posted on here, but I've been lurking and reading. After receiving my SOC on several conditions, and being informed by the Houston VARO that they will be sending an SSOC within the week, I think it's time that I hire somebody a good bit smarter than I am, and who can navigate the BVA system. I ran the gambit myself for the most part, obtaining all of my military medical and personnel records from NPRC when the VA said they couldn't find anything, getting an IME/IMO from Dr. Ellis in Oklahoma, an IMO from Dr David Anaise in Arizona, an IMO from my oncologist of the past 18 years, and a bundle and a half of my civilian treatment records. I fought with the help of Ted Ebert of the VA to get 95 pages of medical records that belonged to other veterans out of my C-File. (First denial and first SOC contained a ton of citations of these records, some of which were before I was even born.). I still have one record from some poor Airman whose name is nowhere close to mine, who has a rough condition that they still cannot seem to remove, but at least it's only one page now....I hope. I requested and received three copies of my C-File, gettting a different number of pages each time, and always something new from my military records that they couldn't find before when they did their first rating. I went through three C&P's, with an affirmative one in 2012, and two adverse ones in 2015 (after introducing Dr. Ellis' IME/IMO) and another in 2016 (after introducing Dr. Anaise's IMO). I started all this in June, 2010, and have to say that it has been a ride, bumpy, but educational. I've filed NOD's, Form 9 Appeals and all kinds of other junk, and have learned that eBenefits has a long way to go before being truly veteran friendly. (But it is better than the old VONAPP system that I used when I first started this mess.) When I receive my SSOC in the next few days, (It should have already arrived by now, but hey...it's the VA, right?), I'll do whatever needs to be done to keep the ball moving, but old Mark is ready to let somebody else navigate. I don't mind working, submitting to more exams, blood work, x-rays, etc, but I think I need an attorney to move on. My American Legion guys, who have been friendly, etc. through it all have only really served to help me eliminate the long waits on the 1-800 number, and that's about it. And of course, the VA finally has fixed that a bit and the waits are pretty small now. So, question is, who do you folks recommend to help me from here as I enter BVA land? Thanks again for the wealth of information so far, and I have to say that I would not have gotten the much-needed 20% that I received without your advice early on in this march. Have a great weekend, and I look forward to hearing from everyone who has had experience with good law firms, and warnings from those who have bad experiences from others. Mark
  2. It was mentioned earlier that if the C&P was done by VES (Veterans Evaluation Services), that it won't show up on your MyHealthyVet account. Same holds true for QTC C&P examinations. I think that it's linked to something that happened at a QTC site a while back when a veteran didn't appreciate what his examiner stated and may have returned to the examination clinic to voice his/her thoughts and it went south from there. I don't the exact history. Anyone? Anyway, it's gonna take a FOIA to get you C&P examination results if you were sent to an outside contractor, which is pretty common. Good luck! Mark
  3. Take the time to research. Research your condition(s). Research the C&P doctor for obvious signs of "quackedness". Research your C-File and request an updated copy with all new information. Sometimes they'll give you a gold nugget of some important medical report or lab report from your military service that they "forgot" to provide under previous FOIA requests. Request anything and everything from the NPRC. Often, they'll have key records that the VA doesn't bother to retrieve. If you haven't already, get a good IME/IMO done. This might force them to do a reset and send you back into the land of NOD instead of BVA appeals. Good luck and thanks for your service! Mark
  4. Lotz, Yep, I have had that happen before on a few conditions. NOD'd 'em, regrouped with an IME/IMO and hit them again with an IMO from Dr. Anaise. I had a C&P last month for all of the conditions this time around. (Third C&P done so far.). They included all, but the doctor didn't quiz me much on a couple of them. I'm still waiting, but got my third C-File copy and killed time by going through it. Found "new" old medical records and tests that the VA hadn't provided to me in previous FOIA's. You might kill some time by doing a new FOIA for the C-File, and also a request for NPRC documents. It's like fishing. You never know what you might catch when you drop a hook! Meanwhile, I think a good IME/IMO might force their hand. Others on here have had luck with an IME/IMO pushing the wall over and being granted immediately, but in my own experience, it usually triggers a C&P first. You're smart waiting for the actual denial to arrive first, because the doctor that does an IME/IMO can shoot at what they are discounting. Good luck! Mark
  5. Did the C&P examiner himself/herself actually do the addendum, or was it somebody else at QTC, VES, etc that just typed something in at the bottom of the DBQ? That's been known to happen. Some clerk gets word from the VA that the C&P was not to their liking and they ask for "clarification", which means, "change your story". Only often it's not the actual Doctor that does the addendum. Just wondering. You might still be able to use it. Good luck! Mark
  6. I agree with Broncovet. I'd do an FOIA for the C&P examiner's curriculum vitae, and while you're waiting do an online search for his/her credentials and print/PDF what you can find. You could do your NOD or Form 9 Appeal, depending on what stage you are in, and while you are waiting, get an IME/IMO done as quickly as possible. That should hopefully trigger the VA to look at your case all over again with the new and material evidence. Include your online search information, until you get your FOIA fulfilled. They'll probably schedule your for another C&P. I could be wrong, but the VA can't forward on to the BVA until all other associated claims and FOIA requests are adjudicated or resolved. Also do a FOIA for your C-File. You never know that they missed, or what records that are in there that are not your own. (On my 3rd C-File request, the VA "discovered" and included several CBC, Monospot and other tests that they previously said did not exist and were not present earlier....so you never know.) Last, document everything. I like to scan everything in PDF to a folder in Dropbox. That way I can access it anywhere in case I need to read or access something. It's also easier than hauling around a crate of letters and medical documents. Good luck! Mark
  7. John, Don't want to hijack this thread, but yeah. They are amazing. Got my third corrupted C-File in June this year, and actually thought it was purged after all of that mess from before. However, I still found at least one other page of some other veteran's medical records in the file once again. And it was one of the original ones I told the VA about in 2014! Nothing crazier than spending over three years trying to tell the VA to purge 95 pages of other veterans' records out of your C-File, and then finding that AFTER all of that, the VA examiner and rater actually still used those records as a negative evidence. It's a lot of fun reading about some injury your had when you were an adult prior to being in the military, when in reality you either weren't born yet or were just a small child. I tend to agree that it is criminal. I really think the VA has gotten so big and powerful that Congress can't even reel them in, or they don't want to. If too many veterans' claims get approved, there will be too much to pay out in Compensation and too much in medical costs.....so denials keep the budgets down. As always, evidence and persistence usually can prevail, but unfortunately, they can make up their own evidence, borrow it out of some other veteran's file, lose your evidence, disregard your evidence and when all else fails, stall until you pass away or become so discouraged that you give up. (The last two are their favorites.) Mark
  8. Amen to that! They will lie about laboratory test results, mix your records up with those of other veterans then cite them in C&P examination reports, denials and SOC's. They won't really help you look for your documents, including those that were DOD, and if you do a ton of work to get them, they are great at losing them while not bothering to tell you that they lost them. If they don't lose them, they still might simply "forget" to use them in the adjudication process. If you talk to a human, he/she will be polite, but not helpful. Always polite, but you can tell they can't wait to hang up the phone. For C&P's , they'll use nurse practitioners, physician's assistants and quack doctors that are on the verge of losing their medical licenses, or who have bellied up in their anti-aging or liposuction practice, and who are forced to either work for the VA, or worse still, for QTC or VES as a contracted "Denier For Hire." These quacks, who often have no real medical specialty, are considered gospel prophets by VA raters, but the same VA raters will look at IME/IMO reports from actual "real" medical doctors with years or decades of experience in specific specialities, as suspicious and will do everything in their power to discredit them, including simply forgetting to mention their opinions, or better still they shoot them down by "lying to deny." And don't forget that they are notorious copy and pasters.....even if it means copying another veteran's information into your denial, rating or SOC. Keep hitting them, and if you can get leverage, use it. Don't feel sympathy for them if they screw up, because they won't give you a break if they are given the chance. Worse still, the longer you wait in the process, the more that your projected retro may grow, which sounds like a good thing. Right? Wrong. The local VARO's hate to grant large retro amounts in the range of five or six figures, so they do everything in their power to deny to let the BVA sort it out, which adds yet more years to a veteran's claims. But hey....at least you get a Veteran's ID card that's good for 10% off at Lowe's and Whataburger after it's all said and done. Peace out! Mark
  9. Great answer, Berta! Thanks! That one is definitely a post that everybody should Like to be able to refer to when needed. Thanks again! Mark
  10. Dumb question. Say you get two great IME/IMO's from separate qualified doctors done on a condition, then the VA schedules a contracted C&P. The C&P examiner shoots you in the foot. When everything shakes out, does the rater (or are they supposed to) consider the greater probative value of two IME/IMO's from two separate docs over the C&P examiner with the sniper rifle and all things consider, rule in favor of the veteran? Just a question. Thanks! Mark
  11. Just an update. I made the long two hour drive to the QTC office in Louisiana today. Over the past couple of days, QTC called me from different phone numbers to ask me to move up my appointment to earlier times. First they said they had an open spot and wanted to move me from 3 to 2 pm. Then they called asking me to come in early so the roving Doctor could get back home. I was able to make it at around 12:30, and they worked on me immediately. First a quick visit with the nurse over my vitals (she took my blood pressure, but just asked questions on height/weight....no temperature or pulse taken), then they withdrew blood for a CBC test, then in I went to see the QTC Doctor. At least he was an MD this time. Better than VES' nurse practitioner. He didn't ask many questions at all, mostly just about dates. Had me perform back, arm, hand and leg tasks, and that was it. Didn't even ask questions about some of my conditions at all that were on the schedule. After that, I went into a radiology room and the radiologist took X-rays of my head (sinuses), shoulders and hand. He even let me look at the computer images of the X-rays. They were all friendly, but it was weird not getting asked questions about each condition other than the dates. I've read on here that many C&P examiners read the records including IME/IMO's prior to the office visit, so he may have already reviewed my records, and of course, the QTC nurse had called me last Friday to go over the DBQ questionnaires over the phone, so maybe that was enough. We'll see how it goes. That sums up my QTC experience thus far. Mark
  12. I didn't really have a test either. For a good three or four years, the VA could not find my STR's, and then only part of them. I had to find them from the NPRC, and then the audiology records from my separation examination were still missing. However, I ended up getting an IME from a local audiologist, who provided an IMO with attached records. That worked for hearing loss in my left ear and tinnitus. The VA sent me to Veterans Evaluation Services for a C&P for the hearing loss and tinnitus. Several tests were run on me for the hearing loss, but never anything for tinnitus. Just a great deal of questions about when it started, if it continued and was it still affecting me today. A few months later, I was service-connected 10% for the tinnitus and of course, 0% for the hearing loss, left ear. All questions, no tests. Mark
  13. Howdy All! Been a while since I've posted, but I've been reading, lurking and watching.....oh yes....I've been out there watching.....(that was creepy). Took some great advice and contacted Ted Ebert from the VA, via e-mail about my frustration with 95 medical and psych records belonging to other veterans being contained within my C-File, and that they were cited by the VA's last C&P examiner (held by Veterans Evaluation Service in Houston by a 12 year old nurse practitioner dude with a ponytail and a whopping 2 years of experience as a nurse practitioner......ok he may have been 16 years old.....maybe) and the VA's rater (who apparently only knows two functions on his keyboard....copy and paste). Early this year, Mr. Ebert was able to get the VA to acknowledge and purge all of these records, and the latest C-File I received in July looks like it was finally Mission Accomplished after several years of pleading with them to pull the records and reassess. While waiting on this, I received another IMO from Doctor David Anaise on multiple conditions. Although Mr. Ebert advised that the actual C&P examination report, rating denial and the rating decision letter (all three had information from medical records of other individuals) could not be removed or redacted, he advised that he would note in the file that there were incorrect records and that these documents had cited them. The VA finally did a reset and pulled me back down from pending a BVA Appeal back down to the run of the mill Notice of Disagreement, and has now recently scheduled me for a third C&P examination with QTC (My first time dealing with them in this six year Disneyland ride line.) The first C&P by a real doctor at VES was favorable to me, the third was blackballed by Nurse Skippy with the ponytail citing other veteran's records, and now it looks like I'll see another doctor at QTC from what I read. I did an "interview" over the phone with an office employee, who went over the DBQ questionnaire with me and had me answer her verbally line by line each question on the multiple DBQ's. They had already FedEx'd me the DBQ questionaires with appointment information and instructions, which I filled out as instructed, but she said that this would save time and make it easier for the doctor to review than reading my handwriting or filling it out himself. (Don't worry, I plan to bring my own handwritten copies as well, as well as the IMO from my oncologist, affirmative C&P from the VES doctor in 2012, the IME/IMO from Doctor Ellis and the IMO from Doctor Anaise, as well as my STR's and other supporting medical materials. I may also bring a couple of Doctor Seuss books just in case. The office employee was patient and friendly thus far. Fangs may be out when I arrive next week, but who knows? She even let me give her more information when I called her back with additional symptoms that I had forgotten to tell her in the initial telephone interview (I wasn't home when she called, and she caught me flatfooted.) I'll keep everybody advised of what happened on my first QTC experience. Gotta be better than the last VES experience....I hope. This one will involve C&P's for service connection on several conditions and a rating increase on another. Have a great weekend! Mark
  14. Jim, Good luck! You stand a great chance on it! Thanks again for your service. Mark
  15. I agree. Get an IME/IMO from a specialist or your current doctor connecting past, present and future. Then do a FOIA request for the C&P examiner's curriculum vitae to use if he/she is a nurse practitioner or physcian's assistant, when comparing to your MD in a NOD and/or BVA appeal. Good luck! Mark
  16. Does eBenefits show any status change? Usually they will show a Form 9 Appeal or Notice of Disagreement for the claims if you filed and they have "received" it. Mark
  17. Rootbeer22, Wish you all the best on getting the IMO/IME you need to finish this battle off. In reference to the C-File request, I had waited well over a year and hadn't heard anything out of the Houston VARO, so after months of call and IRIS requests, I used the nuclear option and went with a Presidential inquiry. I sent a simple request for the C-File, giving a breakdown of my circumstances and wait time, and within about a month, I received a hardcopy of my C-File from the Houston VARO. The cover sheet was even filled out by hand. I'm thinking that this is what put a rush on it. If you are running out of time, might be a worthwhile shot. Good luck! Mark
  18. It would help if you could get it in there that you began to develop symptoms while in service. That and a good IMO usually will knock the wall over for Tinnitus. MOS/AFSC associated with noise exposure also will help greatly. Good luck! Mark
  19. When you get there, don't forget to put a push-pin in their giant map on the wall. They allow every veteran to put a pin on their home town to show where they came from. It's amazing to see how many people have travelled from all over the U.S. and the world to utilize Dr. Ellis' services. Mark
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