Steve Ham

My appeal is with a Veteran's Law Judge at BVA. It is a single issue appeal. How long does it normally take for a Veteran's Law Judge to make a decision?

Hello, I filed a NOD 17 August 2010 as a result of a rating decision for a Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI) rating increase dated 6 March 2010. The rating decision did not list the 4 hour Neuropsychological Test that was administered to me on 9 December 2009 as evidence. Before filing the NOD, I filed a request for reconsideration. The VA letter dated 4 August 2010 I received stated “We have no record of a VA examination conducted in December of 2009.” I filed a FOIA request and was told there was no record of the examination. I filed another FOIA request and found the examination results sandwiched between unrelated stapled documents. I sent the examination results to the VA and according to ebenefits they received the document 9 February 2012. Ebenefits lists the NOD as appeal pending. I have called the VA several times and the following is a timeline synopsis: September 2012 - The VA received my Notice of Disagreement (NOD) on August 20, 2010, for my appeal seeking an increased rating for Traumatic Brain Injury. The VA records showed my appeal is under review by the Decision Review Officer. 31 January 2013 – Called VA today. I was told that my appeal is in the rating stage. The appeal has been rated and is being reviewed to determine if it is ready for award or if more information is needed or if there are any errors. March 2013 – Called VA today. I was told today that my appeal is waiting for the DRO to finish the review. I told the VA person what I was told in January and she said, “that’s right.” I then asked her how long does that normally take and she said it takes about 194 days. So, I’m not sure what stage of the DRO review the appeal is in, or how long it could take. April 2013 – Called VA Today. I was told today that my appeal is in the decision phase. The DRO is finalizing the decision. The DRO is the sole approval authority. The DRO will send a SOC after the decision is finalized, no matter if the appeal NOD is approved or denied ( I think the VA respondent was mistaken. I think I will only get a SOC if the NOD is denied.) There is movement and it shouldn’t be too much longer according to the VA. 7 May 2013 – Called VA Today. They told me today the appeal is awaiting the DRO Review??????? I know others have been waiting longer than me even though the NOD is approaching three years old. I don’t know if I should just continue to wait or if I should take some other kind of action. I don’t have a good feeling about it since the VA keeps changing their responses. The Neuropsychological Test was administered by a QTC Doctor contracted by the VA. I’m confident the results of the test warrant an increase in compensation. I would appreciate any advice I could get. I am a new member and this is my first post, however I have been following the Had-it forum for a long time. I have a lot of confidence in Had-it. I don’t have a representative because I felt I could do just as well if I did my own research and used Had-it as an expert resource. Thanks