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Broncovet I will let this forum know when I receive the rating. I will spell it out as it pertain to my previously posted EED post for more experienced members can review and provide feedback based on their VA claims knowledge, Thank you.. Add

Broncovet, Thank you for responding. The Board of Veterans Appeals only awarded my appeal. The Board did not provide an effective date. I guess I will have to wait on the rating for that. Right now I cannot argue the fact that the board granted my appeal. My guess is that I will have to appeal the VARO rating decision and effective date assigned after they provide me with the rating documents.. Add

All Please send me your thoughts on the below situation.. 1. Claimed denied 2000. Reason for VA denial: No Service Treatment Records. 2. I submitted NOD with two in service treatment records that I received from NPRC (all other in service treatment records were missing). 3. VA listed the two submitted medical records and sent me a Statement of the Case continuing to deny reopening my claim. VA stated that the two medical reports did not document the contention that I was filing a claim for. I did not appeal and the claim became FINAL. THIS WAS THE LAST FINAL DECISION. 4. 2010, I submitted a request to reopen the claim and submitted a nexus and referred to a VA form 21-4138 Statement in Support of Claim and a Detailed nexus letter along with the request to reopen. 5. VARO denied my claim 2010 claim to reopen. 6. I submitted a Notice of disagreement. 7. VARO sent me a Statement of the Case and I immediately returned the Statement of the Case. 8. My Appeal remained under certified to BVA at the VARO from early 2011 until late mid 2014. 9. March 30, 2015 The Board of Veterans appeals granted the claim. I have not yet received a rating from the VARO!!! 10. In the BVA decision, the Board stated the following: a. The 2010 decision was final. b. Although the majority of the service treatment records are unavailable, one service treatment record, dated in February 1993, has been associated with the claims file and reveals that the Veteran was seen for a condition that the veteran has clarified was the condition he is seeking compensation. c. There is also a notation of treatment in June 1995, which although blank, was noted by the veteran to be one of many visits that he had for his claimed condition. d. The Board finds that this evidence weighs in favor of the Veteran´s contention that he sustained the leg condition in service. e. Although the remaining service treatment records are unavailable, and thus unable to provide insight as to any other in-service leg injury sustained by the Veteran during service, the Board finds that the Veteran´s statements are credible as to his in-service leg condition as they are consistent with other evidence of record. Questions: 1. Does the in service treatment record become mute, because they were noted in the SOC for the 2000 decision that became final. OR 2. Does the in-service treatment records noted as associated with the claims file by the VA support an earlier effective date in accordance with 38 USC 3.156c. (1) Notwithstanding any other section in this part, at any time after VA issues a decision on a claim, if VA receives or associates with the claims file relevant official service department records that existed and had not been associated with the claims file when VA first decided the claim, VA will reconsider the claim, notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this section. Such records include, but are not limited to: (i) Service records that are related to a claimed in-service event, injury, or disease, regardless of whether such records mention the veteran by name, as long as the other requirements of paragraph © of this section are met; (ii) Additional service records forwarded by the Department of Defense or the service department to VA any time after VA's original request for service records; Any feedback with fact comments would be greatly appreciated.. I want to be prepared when I get the rating, hopefully, soon.. Add

Can anyone instrcut me on how to track an awarded claim once it has been sent back to the Regional Office from the BVA? The last 3 progress notes from the appeals screen are: 4/10/2015 AMC Decision & Claims File Dispatched 4/17/2015 AMC Discision & Claims File Dispatched 4/22/2015 RO Discision & Claims File Dispatched Thank you.. Add

Can I revoke a VSO POA through the Ebenefits lRIS Portal? Thanks. Add

I agree with everyone above. Secretary McDonald and Secretary Hickey have gone way out of there way to get long pending claims addressed immediately. I truly believe that because the way that the Veteran Affairs laws are written, in most cases, very ambiguous, they have their hand tied. In some ways congress is part of the problem. For years, they have been having hearings on all sorts of Veterans Affairs issues, especially the claims backlog. But after the hearing and promises from past VA top officials that they would do better by the veteran, the same old hearing are just repeated. The managers at the regional offices do not take an active role in the veterans claims until they are notified by higher ups (i.e. Secretary McDonald or Secretary Hickey). If the Regional Office Managers take the on hand approach as the two senior VA secretaries (accept Veterans email complaints directly and not through IRIS!!!), they would be able to identify the systemic problems at the respective agencies. Secretary McDonald and Secretary Hickey should be commended for the progress that they have made to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs and regain the trust of the Veterans.. Add

ArNG11 Thank you for that information.. Earlier I asked a specific question, but it got a little side tracked. I will try to ask if a little differently below to hopefully get a direct response: Scenario:: If SMRs were considered missing/unavailable in an earlier VARO decision. A couple of SMRs were found and associated with the claim folder, and the VARO continued to deny the claim. On appeal to the BVA, in the award write up, the veteran law judge wrote "although the majority of the service treatment records are unavailable, two service treatment records has been associated with the claims file." "The Board finds that this evidence weighs in favor of the Veterans contention that he sustained a spine injury in service." Question: Does the fact that the VARO identified the 2 in service treatment records as evidence in a previous denial, void the 38 156c rule regarding discovered departmental records that are later used as probative evidence in a later decision??? Any clarification or input would be greatly appreciated.

Jbasser When the DBQ examination was conducted, it was only 4 weeks of incapacitating epdisodes.however, because of the time that it took for the appeal to be decided by the board, I have had at least 3 additional weeks.Should I send a message to the AOJ that is rating the current IVDS appeal. Or will they assume that i had additional episodes and give me credit for the full 6 weeks of incapacitating episodes. Or should I wait for the rating and request for an increase based on the additional episodes that should have been calculated in the rating. Also, Is ankylosing spondylosis, which is a different diagnosis on the dbq than ankylosis, rated as part of IVDS? Thank you for the reply.. Add

Gastone As I mentioned, the BVA Veteran Law Judge made a specific note in my award decision stating Clemon vs. Shenseki. It was being addressed, as far as I know, to the VARO rater. Add.

BVA noted Clemons vs. Shinseki in lumbar spine award decision. During examination, the examiner diagnoses several different back spine, muscle and nerve root conditions, to include arthritis. Highest ROM was 20. Does this mean that the RO must acknowledge all of the back conditions noted in the examination even though I did not include them in my VA claim. At least that is how I interpret Clemons vs. Shinseki. Thank you.. Add

Broncovet It was an initial claim for benefits. Will I have to order a copy of my claims file from VA or the records management center now that the claim is inactive? Thank you for the reply and advice! Add

Brocovet No, I have not ordered my C file. The diagnosis submitted to VA was in the form of a treatment record, not a full examination. What I failed to mention is that VA C&P examination that was scheduled and conducted for the 1999 claim, the examiner diagnosed the condition that was later awarded using the 2 in service medical records and the Doctor nexus. Thank you.. Add

Gaston, I was award 60%. The decision stated that the evidence supported chronicity and continuity of symptoms since service and concluded with the condition was etiologically related to service. Add

Broncovet I was diagnose as early as 2002 by my doctor and submitted several treatment records to VA to support the diagnosis. It wasn´t until the doctor submitted the nexus that they awarded the claim. Add

All Can you assist me in determine if an earlier effective date claim should be considered based on the following scenerio. I am alittle confused because 38 C.F.R. § 3.156© provides that “if the VA receives or associates with the claims file relevant service department records at any time after the VA first decides the claim, the VA will reconsider the claim, including the issue of awarding an effective date back to filing of the original claim. Scenerio: Filed Claim 1999- Va Denied 2000- Reson Denied: No evidence of to indicate that condition was incurred in service; no service treatment Records and no evidence treatment shortly after separation-Did not appeal and Became Final Refiled 2003-Va received a few service treatment records-but doess not list them in there 2004 decision, which again denied the claim for the same reason as 2000 decision. I filed a NOD and sent them copies of the two in service treatment records that supported my claim. VA sent me an SOC which acknowledged the in service treatment, but stated that no chronic diagnosis was mentioned. Unfortunately, I wasn´t smart and let this on go final as well.. I KNOW!!!! Refiled 2005- this time I submitted Nexus and the 2 in service treatment records, and buddy statement. Claim sat for two years after the VCAA notice, then denied in 2008. Reason: While nexus was new, it was not material. Denied for same reason used in 2000. Submitted NOD within one year of 2005 decision. Waited and waited and finally received a statement of the case in 2008 which continued to deny claim. Va again listed the 2 in service treatment records in the evidence section. Submitted VA form 9 in 2008 with Statement from Nurse wife and Dr. addendum to nexus that really detailed the facts in date order with very good rationale. Claim certified to BVA in 2010. Waited and waited. Early 2013 received a supplemental SOC stating that claim was awarded with an effective date of 2005. In the decison it states "although the majority of service treatment records are unavailable, one service treatment records, dated May 1997 has been associated with the claims file and reveals that the bveteran was seen for a possiblestrained muscle x 3 days. The impression was noted as lower quadrant (abdomen) and the veteran was limited to no lifting over 10 pounds. The veteran has clarified that he sought treatment in 1997 for both pain in back and abdomen. We find that this evidence weighs in favor of the Veterans contention that he sustained a back injury in service" The dececision also mentions the second in service treatment record as being weighed favorably and supports my contention. The SSOC also mentioned the 2 in service treatment records when discussing the favorable Doctor nexus. What I am concerned about is that, while the first decision in 2000 did not mention the 2 in service treatment records, they were mentioned in a denied decision prior to the claim that was awarded in 2013. Please let me know if you think this has a chance for an earlier efffective date. Thank you.. Add

Detel I will take a look at the information that you posted. Thank you.. Add

All, The appeals management center is rating my IVDS claim. After doing some research, it appears that 10% and 20% ratings are the only ratings that range of motion is used when rating IVDS. IVDS ratings of 30%, 40% and 60% does requirements do not mention range of motion in the rating criteria, only incapacitating episodes and unfavorable ankylosis. Why is it that I am always hearing that IVDS Thoracolumbar is rated using ROM? I only see incapacitating episodes requirement for higher ratings. It is just unfortunate if you took it upon yourself to rest your back during an incapacitating episode after taking medication at home. Please steer me to where range of motion is specifically listed for rating in excess of 20%. Thank you. Add

Vync and JBasser Thank you both for the information. I will take your leads and do some research as well. Add

All Will all of the below back disorders be rated under one diagnosis code by the VA? These are all diagnosis listed on the VA C&P exam DBQ, but not yet decided. 1.Arthritis 2.Ankylosis spondylitis 3.Intervertebral disc syndrome 4.Degenerative Spondylolisthesis 5.Degenerative Scoliosis 6.Degenerative Disc Disease 7.Lumbosacral strain 8.Myogelosis Thank you Add

Broncovet I understand.. Thank you again for the quick reply and to the point answers.. Take care! Add

Broncovet Thank you very much for the detailed response. I had three conditions. I was pretty sure about 1 (80-90%) and not too sure about the other 2 (30-40%). Question: If it is a partial remand and partial denial, will the BVA decision notify me of the denials in the first decision letter and only have the AMC work the remanded issue? As I understand it, I would have to continue the appeal process for the denials.. Thanks again for the information.. Add

Questions: 1. When is a BVA decision considered closed?. 2. Does BVA send denied appeals to the AMC to hold until the final denial after submission of new evidence? 3. Or Does the BVA send denied claims directly to the veteran and bypass the AMC? If waiver of reconsideration by AOJ was sent to BVA, will AMC send claim back to RO for Remanded issues? 4. Will BVA send the veteran a copy of the remand? Thank you.. Add

If the Secretary could make a difference, I would ask that he get the VA to list, specifically in Ebenefits, what evidence has been submitted. As it stands now, Ebenefits states that evidence was received on a specific date, but does not state what was received, There is no way to know if VA received specific pieces of critical evidence until a decision is made, and then it too late, You have to resubmit the missing evidence in the form of a notice of disagreement or reconsideration in order to get the evidence that you thought VA had, considered. Resubmission of the evidence will cause your claim to be further delayed one to two years while waiting on it to be reviewed by the respective VA adjudicator. Add

Chuck75 Per your below comment "Some other reasons for not listing an exam might be that it was incomplete, or the examiner screwed up entering it into the "system". Would VA be required to schedule another exam if the first one was incomplete or the examiner screwed up entering it into the system? Per my VSO, the examination was in fact in my claims file and was not sure why the Regional Office did not acknowledge it. My VSO take on everything is that "once the Regional Office denies you, very seldom do they reverse the decision at their level. The VSO stated that it was best to wait for the BVA process- Thank you.. Add

Georgiapapa Thank you, it did help.. Buck52 I will ask my private physician who is also a speciailist of the condition that he has been treating me for through the years. Thank you for the advice.. Add