bigred1

Does anyone know where the records from this hospital would have been archieved? I can't find anything online. Also, any thoughts on this: I am helping a Veteran friend with an old claim. When he came home from Vietnam, within the week, his parents took him to the Naval Hospital b/c he was having issues (He thinks this was the start of his PTSD actually but didn't realize it). He must have made a claim (he thinks it was autogenerated) for earaches, and a skin rash. We have the rating denial from his CFile. But of course there is no record of his hospital stay at the Navy hospital. It was denied back in early 1969 stating "service clinicals are negative for any treatment to the above claimed condition". And also states "left ear infection, skin condition of chest claimed by veteran no shown by the evidence of record." Since it was within 1 year of service, wouldn't it automatically be assumed to be service connected? Would this be CUE? Or do we need those Navy hospital records? He then also made a claim a few years later in 1974 when he had a break down for nervous condition. That was also denied while he was still in the hospital (he was there for 2 months). We are currently appealing this claim. We just got a SSOC denying this based on no service connection was found back in 1974. It was of course very brief, with no analysis of his 2 month hospital stay (we asked them to examine, explain and anaylze the records in our NOD). With regard to that claim, any thoughts or advice on how to prove service connection? There is a health record in his file that he complained of nausea, which I argues in our NOD that this was evidence of symptoms of nervous condition/PTSD, but of course they didn't even address it. We are appealing to the next level, but trying to get as much info as I can. Thanks for any help!

Also on his record of assignments it states his principal duty as both casual and cook. Does anyone know what casual means?

Hello, I am helping a veteran w/ his claim for EED and am reviewing his service records. Does anyone know what those titles mean? Also, I am having trouble interepreting some of his medical records/service records. Is there a good site to reference. For ex: I am looking at a 514 C document that has a stamp that says under Report: "VDRL NR" on it and also 71 EVAC HOSP stamped under name of medical facility. Checked off is Ambulatory. So it seems like he was at the 71st Evac hospital on this day in Vietnam, but I can't tell what for. Any ideas?

Hey Troop, have you heard yet? just came across this post and wondering. 4 years is insane. What state are you in?

Geez that is terrible John! Do you still have an appeal going? I"m so sorry all that happened to you! Re: the evidence, well apparently they did not even receive the 2 hospital discharge summaries until 5 months later after the decision was made. Basically, the veteran was hospitalized, he filled out an application for benefits, the AO got the app, sent a request form to the hosptial for the records, made a decision 20 days later (the veteran was still in the hospital), 5 months later the 2 hospital summaries were received. They never did anything with those records. They didn't reopen the claim, they didn't notify the veteran, they just put it in his cfile and then ignored it. When he went in 2011 to get his 1st c&P exam, they ignored it in the evidence, didn't even mention or list them even though it was in the cfile and the doctor talked about it in his report. I just got a letter today saying they are woking on his appeal for eed and for us to send any additional evidence. So I will be sending out my letter back this week along with all the evidence we gathered and I will formulate my arguments. Thanks for all the input! If there is anything anyone wants to add, please let me know.

Hello, I am wondering if I can get your thoughts. I think I have a good CUE case I am assiting with. I have a vietnam vet that I am helping that applied for benefits in the mid 1970s for nervous condition after a suicide attempt. While in the hospital they had him fill out the form for a claim. He was there for 2 months approximatly. We just found a form that the adjudication officer sent to the VA hospital that he was at requesting his records. 20 days later they denied the claim....clearly not enough time for the VA hosptial to send the records. They sent them about 5 months later after it was already denied. They never informed the veteran of that. Fast forward to 2011 he makes another claim, gets rated at 30% for ptsd, he files NOD, he gets rated again earlier this year and goes up to 70%. We want to go after for EED. Any thought on whether we should ask them to CUE themselves (i'm thinking yes, but would like to hear what you think since you've been through this. Thanks so much for any advice!

Have you applied for TDIU yet? I'm unclear as to where you are in the process. You are 70% so you can apply for it by filling out a 21-8940. I would definitely submit that and also get as many statements you can from old coworkers and employers. Also get the records from your private psychologist and get a report from him or her that states you are unable to find gainful employment due to your ptsd. When you go into your C&P exams, you have to answer the questions as though you are answering on your worst days with ptsd. I would suggest writing down specific instances of your ptsd before you go in so you know what you want to convey to the dr. Yes, they will deny you, you have to keep going back. If you are persistent though and keep submitting evidence you should eventually get what you deserve. I know it's a ridiculous process, it's designed to get a certain percentage of people to give up. So keep going and hang in there!

it depends on your evidence. You need to be your own advocate as John above states and you need to have evidence to support your claim. What evidence do you have? Can you get statements from old bosses and coworkers to support your claim that you had problems on the job and that caused your termination? Or statements from your spouse or other family members about your condition? Gather as much information/evidence that you can to support your claim and give it to them. They will not just rate you tdiu based on your word, you need other evidence to support that as well because as John said above they really want to deny your claim. Good luck!

Is the VA supposed to tell you that you are being evaluated for a TDIU claim if you did not apply for it but they are inferring it? A family member was denied TDIU but he did not know he was being evaluated for it. He was rated at 30% went for an increase, got 70% and in that decision they denied him TDIU. Does anyone know if they should have given him notice, sent him the Form 21-8940 or anything like that? On the topic, I found this: 1) 38 CFR 3.155 – Informal claims provides: (a) Any communication or action, indicating an intent to apply for one or more benefits under the laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, from a claimant, his or her duly authorized representative, a Member of Congress, or some person acting as next friend of a claimant who is not sui juris may be considered an informal claim. Such informal claim must identify the benefit sought. Upon receipt of an informal claim, if a formal claim has not been filed, an application form will be forwarded to the claimant for execution. And I also found this: The Department of Veterans Affairs Reference Material, M21-1MR, Part IV, Section F states the following: A decision concerning entitlement to an IU evaluation is based on a review of all available evidence, which should be sufficient to evaluate both the Veteran’s •current degree of disability, and • employment status. Forward a VA Form 21-8940, Veteran’s Application for Increased Compensation based on Unemployability, to the Veteran if a request for IU is • expressly raised by the Veteran, or • reasonably raised by the evidence of record. There is a note that states the following: Note: Although a VA Form 21-8940 can be an important development tool, it is not required to render a decision in an IU claim. However, I would argue this: the intent of that note was for the situation that refers to the specific instance in which a claimant was sent the form, but failed to return it. In the instant matter, claimant was never sent the form to make him aware that there was a viable unemployability claim and that a decision was being rendered for that claim. Any thoughts? Much thanks!

I'm not sure if he has ssdi. He retireed, but he retired under stress. He stated that at his c&p exams, but of course when the write the opinion they ignored all the stuff that he said re: that he retired b/c he was stressed and his condition was getting worse. They wrote the stuff he said to support their decision of denying unemployability.

he actually made a claim while he was in the hosptial. We have the application from the cfile. But they denied it saying it wasn't service connected. I do think they committed CUE, we are appealing, just trying to get all the regs together to formulate the best arguments. I know it is very difficult to prove and they talk in circles in their opinions. thanks so much & good luck to you!!

he is 70% right now ptsd. he was 30 then got 70 earlier this year. We are trying to get tdiu, he has another appointment coming up. I think it will go up then. After that I want to go after for earlier effective date. Just trying to understand it as much as I can so we can have the strongest case possible. Finding the regs from the 1970s has been a bit confusing. Thanks for your help!

Just to clairfy, they are notes from when he was in vietnam, he must have went to the infermery or to see the doctor there on camp.

The breakdown was about 5 years after his return home. He tried to committ suicide and was taken to the VA, was there for 2 months. While there he submitted a claim for nervous condition, but was denied stating "the service medical records are negative for anything referable to the currently claimed disabilities." and also states "veteran has submitted no medical evidence referable to either of the claimed conditions." and "Nervous and earache conditions--claimed by veteran not shown by the evidence of the record" We just found additionaly records obtained by his persistence, not by the VA, from st. Louis. Found a form 10 7131 from the adjutication officer requesting a few things, like hospital summary and special report (not exactly sure what that is yet) I put a request into the VA for an explanation. But 20 days later, they denied his claim....clearly not enough time to receive the records from the VA Hospital. In the cfile there were 2 discharge summaries it looks like they got it about 5 or 6 months after they denied him. They didn't do anything to reopen the claim or to inform him of it or anything. He did apply again in 1985 but he failed to show up to the medical exam (can that hurt us?) He applied again in 2011, rated 30% for ptsd Applied for increase, got 70% earlier this year. We are trying to get TDIU (I think we will succeed on this soon) and Earlier effective date. Which I know is really difficult, but we are prepared to fight it. Thanks for any insight or advice!