sixthscents

I gotta say, even thought they are playing with me on this recent claim... Nasville VARO has been absolutely the best on I have dealt with. Over the years doing abvocacy I have dealt with almost all of them... Winchester-Salem is going to get really bad because it is a BDD point. Any VARO that is a BDD point is going to be swamped, and for some reason... they are only farming out a few claims to the less bust VARO's (like Nashville I suspect) Any state with a large military presence will of course have a busier VARO, and thus take longer in the claims and appeals process. My opinion anyway. Also gotta agree with rentalguy... and yes I use spell check when I do claims... my typing is horrid I know

Quint7, I gotta go with John on this. It has been my experience that a DRO hearing really does NOT slow down a claim, if anything in some cases it can expedite it. Especially under the new Benefits at Discharge program where the are rating all the "new" vets at only a few VARO's and these are their permanent VARO even if they move. Yeah I know startled me too, but I got a vet with a claim right now who is in that exact situation. They will NEVER transfer his claim to Wyoming where he moved - or so he has been repeatedly told. The BDD program was a great idea for the vet, and as usual the VA thought of unique ways to make it lengthen the process rather than shorten it.

I gotta say I have seen this before... not the stamped statement, but the editing of a c-file etc. oh yeah... get copies of a medical docs independent of VA if possible. God bro - I hope you sue and sue... I have a Vet whose records from the St Pete VA have gone missing too... what a suprise.

Gotta go with John on this.... here are the choices you want to give Doc More than Likely Likely As likely as not ... (bad options to give doc but hey) less than likely unlikely You really are shooting for at LEAST - "As Likely as Not"... then the claim wieght swings in your favor anything less than that, and you sunk my battleship ok?

My experience has been that an "informal claim" exists when the person filing the claim files for a general instead of specific injury... for instance A veteran files for compensation for incontinence The rater finds medical records showing both urinary and bowel incontinence - mentions both in their rating decision but only rates one... say the bowel The remaining urinary incontinence is an informal claim since it was shown to exsist as well as the bowel, but not rated formally by the rater. The rater didnt even have to mention it in the decision, just show that they used evidence which "showed or demonstrated" the condition, to decide the bowel only.. Does this make sense? It is as stated on a very case to case basis.

Yes an application for an increase in the diagnosed and already rated condition is the way to go. You must be clear in how it worsens the condition you already are rated for. Seldom is a person diagnosed with a single mental illness. Quite often a patient with an anxiety disorder will also have a depressive disorder or vice versa... thats why the VA will typically only allow for one mood disorder for rating purposes. Now there are probably instances where they haven't, but in my experience they only allow one and group everything under it. Further, and I'll have to look this up, but when I last checked the VA did NOT compensate ADJUSTMENT disorders. Check me on this someone... I cant remember the reference and they may have changed it since I last looked. Bob Smith Oh, BTW I am diagnosed with a depressive mood disorder... (I thought that important to say since I am being a bit analytical here)

Fog, this is really a question for the business office at your local VA Medical Center. They could probably tell you how much you would be liable for, and if you could do payments etc.

Chief it is an odd claim. I have never had to deal with a similar one. However you state the graft was for bladder surgery. I would also look into filing for that, and it's residuals. I'd want the diagnosed injury to the bladder, so I would know where to start with it, if I were you. Bob Smith

Bob - I do not understand your statement about the 60 day period during the Nod period. The effective date will remain the same if the evidence supports it. The effective date will be either the date the claim is received or the date the disability arose. I have never read or heard of the 60 day rule you speak of outside of the 60 day period given to a veteran to perfect the appeal with a form 9. Now if you miss that date the claim will close and you will have to reopen with new and material evidence. Well Ricky, it has been my experience that you establish a dat of claim upon date of receipt - like you said, but if you receive a rating, and then go past the 60 day VCAA period, and then file a new NOD - the VA establishes the new date of claim to be the latest filing date, not the previous. Now,to be honest I know that this should only apply AFTER the SOC has been receieved, but in my experience the VA almost always does it DURING the DRO process. I have had to fight this issue repeatedly, to get the claim date re-established to the original file date. You are perfectly correct in everything you say, but time and again the VARO's I deal with simply apply the 60 day period for the SOC to every aspect of the case. In fact I just last week had to argue this exact point with Nashville VARO in a claim, were the rating was received, but the veteran waited past the 60 day VCAA responce time, and filed a NOD 2 months later... a total of 4 months, and the VA changed the effective claim date to... 4 months after they sent out the original decision, this moved the effective date by over 18 months! I dont know why they are doing this, but they are, and it simply has been better in my experience to avoid the issue by making sure that ANY actions - NOD, Appeal to SOC, etc. go under 60 days. You are completely correct and I used your argument just last week - but I am still waiting to see what they do. I know you are right in how it should work, but it's just not going that way, and hasn't for... well a couple of years really in the claims I have handled. The VA is, for some reason doing exactly what rentalguy, me, and jbasser are all saying - or at least I think we are all saying the same thing.... and I dont know why. Maybe something was passed that I missed, I dont know, but... I am fighting a battle now over this exact issue because the veteran waited past the 60 days... or at least I assumed this was the reason the changed the date, as I could see no other, and in the other instances (of many) I saw no other reason as well. I have had some success in getting the date changed back however, so I am hopeful for this claim. Yet even in the instances where I was able to get the date corrected... the VA reason for changing it never said they made any kind of mistake but instead were being lenient... thats a direct quote "lenient". Anyway, you are right... but... for some reason the VA is being wrong consistently on this issue. Maybe you can figure it out. Could we be doing somethinhg wrong? I'm open to any and all help here cause this one is killing me on several claims currently.

Great posts guys... again it may say that you dont need a diagnosis, but you always do. Everyone who has filed several claims will tell you this. So really good job getting the diagnosis it is key. I just wish more people understood this (sigh). I think you have what you need at this point. Good job in getting it.

This is a complex question actually but Berta hit the key point, did you retire from the reserves? The bonus was for you to go into the reserves correct, or was it for something else? M21-1MR has the guidelines for recoupment of severance pays and bonuses, but alot depends on what kind of bonus it was, and how long you served after receiving it... etc. Sorry to be vague but a bit more info is needed.

It is a good article. The problems I have had with getting sleep apnea approved are the nexus's. I have had a bunch of vets do the sleep studies, but the only real success Ive had repeatedly was with lung conditons, with apnea secondary... and sinus as well. Ive yet to get a PTSD apnea claim thru. Anyone else had any other better results, maybe I am just missing something with this condition. I think its because so many things cause apnea, just heavy sedatives or pain meds for example...

Yeah and you are right... its just a "hot" button topic for me. It literally drives me up the wall every time I see it. But yeah we are on the same team....,. and I could be more polite... and will sincerely try to be.

rentalguy... exactly thats why I am asking the questions I ma.... if he has a new injury perhaps the rating can go up... it really depends upon what he was actually rated for and the percentages for each. but you are dead on... we can tack on several things if we can get a diagnosis and a connection as secondary to... right? thats where im going with this right now and trying to narrow down what the next step needs to be you know?

Bad advise just hurt the veteran... and the problem here is they dont KNOW if its good or bad. So it is up to US to make sure that advise offered is correct. If one member starts giving terrible advise then it has to be pointed out... If I... ME... give bad advise I would expect and hope that someone would stand up and say... nope your wrong, and heres why moron.... I INVITE and ask that others review the advise I post and ensure that I am correct... and if I'm wrong slap me upside the head and say "look stupid quite saying this because" Yes.. advise given on the board MUST be monitored and if its blatently incorrect, pointed out. PERIOD. If that something someone doesnt like, dont post bad advise. Enough said about this, Im goiong to deal with this guy one on one... end of discussion about anything else.

Ok... what kind of spinal injury do the military records show... lumbar,cervical - what id I may ask. Further have you had a myleogram? Further please state exactly what limbs you have had EMG/NCS done upon. I know you have the legs, but I wasnt clear on the cervical. Further when did you file your initial claim, just prior to discharge? Were you retired or medically seperated.... again you may have already said this but I didnt catch it. Have you seen a psychitrist in the VA or military? Thanks... PM me for my phone number and this would go a bit faster if youd like. Bob Smith

SSGmajik, as I see you are online...please read my questions and respond. By the way... after 7 years of dealing with back claims... yeah I am an expert. Period. If you have any doubts just call the last 2 guys whos claims i prepared who got 100% rating on their FIRST application... Id be happy to give you their phone numbers, I already have their permission to do so in fact. Yeah Im an expert... however I was incorrect in calling larryj's post idiotic.. I apologize for that larry, this is just one of my very hot button issues. So to be clear I apologize to larryj for calling his post idiotic, next time I will simply say ill advised when i mean idiotic or somesuch.

And I would AGAIN like to point out that to file for a pain disorder without a diagnosis is simply not going to go anywhere. You suggested to a vet that they should file for "X" or they would be missing out... where is ANY diagnosis of this pain disorder. This is just digging for gold... and its going to do nothing but get a denial, and in the process get other claims further backlogged. Now if you had advised the guy to see his doctor and maybe get a diagnosis, well you post would have made much more sense. As it was... it didnt. Period. Pain is a symptom larry PERIOD... sure there is such a thing as a pain disorder but it has a root cause... not just pain. So you tell a vet to file a claim because they have pain... and the raters are going to laugh and deny. I read the ENTIRE post several times before I typed the first WORD. Here are the facts... you dont get a rating without a diagnosis. Am I speaking a foreign language... oh wait, you said No, you do NOT have to have a diagnosis before filing a claim. I did not have a diagnosis before filing my FIRST claim. I KNEW what was wrong with me, I filed a claim, I went to a C&P, I got a diagnosis from the C&P examiner, I got rated, I got a check. BINGO huh so you are assuming this guys C&P doc will do the same.... you KNOW better than that man. you know you do. So if you tell vets out of hand "hey you should file fopr this" without having a CLUE what the guy has and not asking the FIRST question thats good advise? No its incredibly poor advise. jbasser, did you even read where I asked the vet real questions that might actually get some FACTS involved before we say he should do this or that... doesnt that make a little more sense than just saying file for this? I read the post and there wasnt enough information to give the guy proper guidance then or now until he answers some of those questions. period. I will step on shotgunning whenever I see it. Perhaps I could have taken a milder tone... perhaps.

Yes it makes a great deal of sense. jbasser gave you VERY sound advice. While veterans have 1 year to appeal a claim, if they do NOT file a NOD within 60 days they LOSE the EFFECTIVE DATE OF CLAIM, and establish a new date of claim based upon the date they recieved the appeal. why is this important. well as mentioned the date of claim is where they back-pay to. so if you do eventually get them to compensate you for the illness, they have to back pay to the original date, and not the new date if you went past 60 days. also as mentioned, it effectivly cuts off 3 months of processing, at the VERY LEAST. very good point, thank you for the post. Bob Smith

While I was really upset by the advice someone offered here, he has been a VERY good poster and advocate. I have seen this persons other posts for a long time, and while I was pperhaps a "bit" upset by this one, he is normally very astute and gives very sound advice. I was angered because in a 10 minute session I saw several posts that were similarly poor. Perhaps in this instance the poster misunderstood the facts and I SHOULD have taken that into consideration, BUT... I was not only speaking about this single post. Again, we cannot give advice without knowing the facts. "Shotgunning" a claim hurts both the veteran, and the other vets trying to get their claims thru. So, I was not only speaking about this persons post but something I noticed that was widespread. Again this poster had been and is a very valuable resource to Hadit. I probably was more stern in my comments directed at him than I needed to be, but this is something that cannot continue. I was not ONLY speaking about this post but something that is happining all over the board. To give sound advice we must: 1. know as many of the facts as possible. if we dont ASK for them. 2. we must link illnesses to a diagnosis. the veteran MUST have a diagnosis of an illness or the VA will simply deny it.. and waste everyones time. pain is a symptom, not an illness... we MUST be clear that SYMPTOMS are not enough for a good claim. this is best both for the veteran health (since if they have a diagnosed illness they can get targeted care for these symptoms) and for their claims. 3. we must involve the veteran by making them a part of this process. I have filed many, literally hundreds of claims for veterans that I completely prepared. In many of these cases the veteran could have been more involved, but I simply did all the work. This teaches the veteran nothing, and if you - the advocate - become sick or are unable to continue these claims, the veterans are essentially helpless. I know this, because it has happened to me. we need to teach veteran HOW to file proper claims and lead them to where they can look up the necessary information. That way they can eventually continue their claim without you, and also hellp other thru what they have learned. 4. So while I took a very hard stance in what was said, I feel it was for a very important reason. Bob Smith

A few questions to clarify the situation for me please. 1. How far from discharge are you? 2. How do you know these disks in you spine are involved (i.e. what test have shown injury to them, and exactly what was the disgnosis) 3. Have you had any testing of the cervical spine? 4. Is there any indication of this condition, or any spinal condition in your service medical records. Now a couple things.... 1. IVDS is not solely based upon bedrest, but if you were ordered convalescence leave in the military that does help to show it. The "catch -22" that is mentioned does not necessairily come into play depending upon how you initially filed your claim and where it is at now. Also, you state you have had 3 surgeries... the normal recovery time for a back surgery varies from 3 - 6 months... this also can be used to file for IVDS. Please answer these questions as best you can... it really makes a great deal of difference in how you need to address your claim. Also.. to infer or state that someoen is "missing out" if they dont file for a disorder THAT HAS NOT BEEN DIAGNOSED is clearly idiotic. The VA does NOT rate symptoms, it rates diagnosed illnesses, so before anyone can file ANYTHING, they need to relate their illness to a diagnosed condition, and not just shotgun a bunch of pointless junk that will both A. slow down the entire claim, and B. never get past a rater in the 1st place. Rentalguy1 makes a VERY good point here.. and clearly states why he thinks what he does. So if you have a mood disorder - depression which is VERY common for back injury patients, you do have a path, but also... Have you been diagnosed with any type of mood disorders and if not do you believe you might suffer from one? Look up depression, and how it is often secondary to chroinic pain and see if you feel you have any of the associated symptoms. This will take some research on your part, but if you do find it so then we need to discuss that. I am sick of people saying - you can file for this or that, when the person asking questions hasnt even said if the suffer from ANY kind of mood disorders. So, either give good advice people or shut the heck up... ALL YOU ARE DOING IS CONFUSING THE ISSUE AND SETTING UP A VETERAN FOR FAILURE. Lets ask QUESTIONS first to see what the heck is actually going on perhaps? Doesnt that make the most SENSE... Bad advice is worse than NO advice... so TO ALL... lets get the facts, then advise the client OK? again good post rentalguy... and you too jbasser. I have and am still very sick so have not been very active for quite a bit, but I am trying to get back into the scene slowly as my physical conditon allows. All of you who do not know me, well I am very skilled with back injury claims, and can hum the tune with most other stuff. If I dont know something my theory is to say it... but if I do I reference what I say to CFR 38 and M21-1MR. I am not a VA cheerleader, but badly prepared claims bog down the entire system, and shotgun claims are the worst of all, they can actually HARM the chances that a veteran can get compensation - so I am somewhat passionate about clear, well documented and well constructed claims that are bullet proof. I KNOW how to build those, I dont "shotgun". (sigh) - yeah I ranted but something like that really PO's me.

Personally I would immediatly file a notice of disagreement. This maybe as you know can be simply a typed letter stating that you disagree with the decision and why. Also I would reference and attach any and all military or civilian medical records which relate to this illness that date from service. However, there MUST really be a reason for the pain and urgency. I would see a va Urologist and try to nail down a diagnosis both for your personal health needs, and for the claim. A diagnosis now will help you claim, but only in that you have a name to hang the symptoms upon. I have not researched CFR 38 on urgency, but I would suggest that you look thru section 4, and try and narrow down exactly what category this rating might fall under. If you have incontinence, I do have all the relevant data, but not on urgency. It is probably covered under incontinence somewhere or close to it. Bob Smith

Unless you have actually been into a back room of the claims section youd never understand why this is such a GOOD idea. Seriously, at every flat surface there are claims files stacked 10 high. Going all electronic makes sense, if it is done correctly. Honestly it will really help speed up the process. Bob Smith

Good job Wings... I particularly liked the reference. Bob Smith

My sister is a DON of a nursing home and swears that the patches are really good. I dont know, I take morphine twice a day, and percocet. Now, the cool thing is the percocet has NO Acetominophine. It is just the oxycodone. NOT oxycontin - oxycodone. Really tiny pill, when the other percocet with the Acetominophine is huge. Doesnt upset my stomach at all. I reccomend to all if the percocet is upseting your stomach, ask for just the oxycodone without the acetominophine. My morphine is sustained release, and is a small dose - 15mgs. But I think that is going to go up probably, since the pain is still increasing - we will just have to see. As far as I understand the fentanyl patches they are just sustained released pain med as well but they are very very strong... like 81 times stronger than morphine.... according to Wikipedia. They are only supposed to be used when the other meds quit working. As far as getting my meds, its the same as Testvet - the fedex guy comes on the dot and delivers them. I keep all my meds - especially the narcotics - locked in a safe at all times. I reccomend that everyone do this. Bob Smith