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ArNG11
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Posts posted by ArNG11
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say what? Where did you read this, I have never seen it officially either.
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Also with your last question regardless of how many mental conditions you suffer from they will only rate one. The predominant one and by regs the one with the most prevalent symptoms and the one that yields the highest rating. Again this is what the regs say, however, if you don't know by now the VA comp systems kind of doesn't follow protocol.
- Alcapone1931 and Andyman73
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11 hours ago, Alcapone1931 said:
thank you hamslice, arNG, and andyman for your prompt responses. good to hear you guys validate my bit of hope i have on this.
+andyman73 - i did file for sleep disturbances in my file, however i never got a c/p or anything for it so not sure if they are planning to consider that, hopefully the rater and decision will rate this.
just waiting on the file to move passed the 'preparation for decision' phase. ive heard stories of claims going either way from this phase, so finger crossed.
again, thank you all for taking the time out to respond.
-al
They usually incorporate this in the exam when they ask how you sleep at night. At least most times they do.
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Bubba quit worrying about this or you will drive yourself nuts. If I had a dollar for every time a VSO said this and that I wouldn't need my benefits.
Go on what you know and when you get a hard decision then you know how to go about attacking the BS.
From what you wrote it seems that you have a good grasp on what is needed for the higher ratings. I don't disagree, much like my GERD claim I was low balled and I know from reading and interpreting the regs I qualified for higher, I just didn't get what my evidence warranted.
Don't go by what other people state, or how their claims went, each claim is unique according to the specific circumstances and evidence surrounding the claim, not to mention the evidence used and the documented symptoms. Then you have to factor a rater that can read and an agency that does the right thing according to the regulations and law. The VA Claim process is no such animal.
I'll give my circumstances, I had to have a hernia repaired, restricted the esophagus using my stomach as a knot and still use medication daily for the reflux, still have to sleep in an elevated position, still have that fire in the throat that won't go away, no matter what I throw at it. I still have more serious issues than the VA will admit to and sadly still at 0 rating.
Hang in there you will have what you need to fight the VA low ball.
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Yes this is true, Guardsmen and Guardswomen are the unwanted step children when it comes to claims. However following the same criteria and the rules of the game will yield the best results. Research and don't take any persons word for it, this to include my own. I had to learn many a regs and build my claims but it is doable with the correct ingredients.
From the above post, now just my opinion, it definitely looks good for service connection. That by far is the most important thing right now. With service medical records indicating the problem and contemporary treatment records you are in good shape.
I love the fact that the doc mentions the post deployment assessments, this in my squirrelly brain makes a few things obvious, first and foremost service related events, secondly, verifiable symptoms. I agree that you have a strong case for service connection, I would be guessing on the rating but 30-50 seems to be the normal range here.
With the fact of being employed I would probably go with the 30% range, however, I am not a rater, and would just be throwing numbers out there. The thing to concentrate on is again the service connection, which looks good, this is just my opinion.
If your symptoms are worse or have a greater effect than what the doctor opined then you can file an NOD, with contemporary records and treatment history from mental health professionals.
Good luck.
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39 minutes ago, Navy4life said:
Rubberduck;
Your statement is inaccurate regarding PTSD. Many Vet's like myself suffer PTSD and have never been in combat. PTSD is for ALL Veterans that truly suffer from PTSD or any MH disorder for that part. Mine happens to be a result of a personal assault and therefore I was awarded PTSD other than combat.....Just an FYI
Glad to hear the 10% issue got increased to 60%
My apologies regarding the PTSD. You filed for a MH disorder and honestly they are all to same in some form or fashion. I am assuming you were denied the MH claim due to the C&P? If you want help from the Vet's here, when you get the denial letter, redact the personal information and post on this site. Lots of good folks here to help!
Remember just b/c you are diagnosed now doesn't mean it's S/C to your service. You need a good Nexus letter, SMR's to back it up, and continuity of treatment..
Go to a Walk-In MH clinic to start the process! It's faster and quicker. Second, get your doctor to provide a Nexus letter for you that you have been seeing.
I thought you had a C&P exam for MH???
To answer your thread question...NEVER give up! Fight for what is right!
Also, not sure you know this or not, but I would file an NOD regarding the denial once you have the N&M evidence or file a whole new claim. Filing the NOD preserves the right for you to get the effective date granted to your original claim file date vs. a new claim it would only be granted at the new claim date filed or the ITF (Intent To File).
Good luck!
Agreed, this is the best move to combat the decision. New medical and material evidence would greatly help your claims strengths and continuity of symptoms and treatment.
Never GIVE UP!!
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I agree with the folks on here with regards to the diagnosis. You can only be rated for one mental condition anyways. The fact that there are several, well, that fact should not matter, however, what should matter is that the VA has connected and correctly rated the worst service connected mental injury.
It took me a while to get my mental claim sorted out and it is still fubar'ed, the VA even changed the diagnosis, to correct the mistake and cover their arse, however, left the door open to reduce the rating before the 5 year mark. This is the way it goes. I know better thanks to the advice and knowledge from this site. As long as your correctly rated for the symptoms and the effect that your injury has on your social and occupational life , those, IMO, are the important facts, with the important connection that it happened in service and was made worse by your service.
If you can get the medical care you need from the VA, heh, great, get it and continue to get the care. Just be mindful, the VA system, to include the medical side, has an agenda. My advice is to protect yourself, remain informed, however also get the care that you need.
JMO
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Hmm. I am still waiting on a response from the evidence intake center on my FOIA request for a mental health C&P exam. I have still not received the information. However, I did receive a nice letter from the VA stating that all FOIA request must be made to your corresponding "Evidence Intake Center".
My beef with this is, now who do you hold accountable for and overdue FOIA request. I have quoted the correct regs and the law and yet my request for my own records has been ignored.
IMO this move is just more diversion techniques on the VA part.
According to the VA my records have been transferred to the BVA. Bet any one here a Starbucks Vanilla Latte, or a Chai tea latte the C&P exam I am looking for is not in my RBA.
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Independent Medical Opinion preferably someone who specializes in mental health. Truly saddens me to even read about such an experience. Good luck and best wishes.
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iceturkee, to really get an accurate picture of a back disability, multiple diagnostic exams are the best approach. I'm sure you know this as most of us have come to find this revelation is true. The key to most is whether there was trauma in service, and whether the trauma caused an advance in a deteriorating condition.
I cannot for the life of me understand why the VA medical centers get away with this crap. Institutions that practice this should be severely fined and not be allowed to practice. A multi million claim settlement might cause enough waves to fix some of these issues.
63Sierra, it's great to read your posts again. How have you been managing?
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Wish you folks good luck. The VA denial scam can only go for so long before proper medical rationale kills the junk science and BS denials.
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23 hours ago, OldJoe said:
I know we all go into "conspiracy mode" when the VA pulls lame brain stunts like this, but is there some reasoning to the logic?
I know this is the VA we are talking about they would send a Vulcan into an epileptic fit, probably would be considered inhuman and cruel punishment to even let one within 500 feet of a Vulcan.
Did you get anywhere in your pursuits?
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Gastone give or take how often are you successful with your VA doctors helping you with your claims, or for that matter for helping you stay informed about your treatment options and managing conditions?
I like to point out the scandolous crap the VA often pulls, however, I cannot dismiss when a VA doctor and or clinician do what is right for the health of the patient.
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Buck it all makes sense. This is sad but true, can't serve two masters, either you serve one and not the other or you serve none.
Buck I'm sure you know this, but I feel I should mention it this for all our information sake. Per protocol, doctors, nurse, any medical staff are supposed to document your visits and results. You can get most of your information from eVet and/or by the freedom of information office. Personally when I had care at the VA, I used eVet. Any C&P exams that were done at the VAMC would also show up. It was great, didn't have to bother anyone or get aggravated by some yahoo telling me I couldn't have access then and now and had to wait.
I'm serious about this point, I used to and even still do in private practice records my visits. Not just because some organizeations are scandalous but because there is so much information that you go over with your doc that you forget and not recall everything.
I don't see the problem in this, however, when an entity wants to keep things in house, those actions make a whole lot of sense.
Conflict of interest, plain as day huh?
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3 hours ago, Gastone said:
Old Joe, did you ever post a redacted copy of your SA C & P DBQ?
A redacted copy of your SA Denial Letter would really help understand your situation. How exactly are you attempting to link your current SA DX, as a Direct or Secondary SC? What's the Nexus?
Have you seen a Non VA Sleep Specialist, Neurologist preferably? For a couple $100.00 to cover the office call, if they agree with your Nexus and opine as such in their Clinician Notes, you should be good to go. You don't really need to pay $1000.00+ for an IMO.
The above "Clinician Notes" approach worked for myself and (2) other Vets here on Hadit. They actually visited my Board Certified Sleep Specialist Neurologist and shortly thereafter, notified me that they were awarded their SA SC. The Dr agreed with their Nexus Theory, and they left his office with a copy of the Exams Clinician Notes indicating a "More Likely Than Not," DX association. Total cost for the office call, was less than $200.00.
Semper Fi
all for this approach, when it works. I would still try the method as it is within everyones grasp.
Benefit of doubt, equivocal medical evidence, in the Veterans favor, most advantageous to the Veteran, medical opinions based on past and contemporary medical history using medical rationale, those terms seem to ring in my head often when we discuss this topic.
Oh yeah because the regulations and laws surrounding Veterans claims clearly state this is how the process should operate.
Go figure.
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11 hours ago, Buck52 said:
Make sure you make double copies of everything you send to the VA.
ArNG11
ITS WERID we can't sleep good without a CPAP and then we get one and we do sleep better...so do they think we love the C-PAP? of course were going to sleep better, thats like telling a vet well you have a prosthesis leg now your good as new.
crazy BS is all it is with the VA.
There are specific things that you must do in order to protect yourself from the BS the Veterans Adminstration tries to pull. That is for sure.
The stance is all a shell game to keep honest worthy folks away from the things that were traded for years of service. But I agree with you Buck. Same old, same old, just a different time, decade or century.
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Old Joe , I quite disagree. At least in my experiences. The VA totally discounted a well rationalized medical opinion which supported service connection using service medical records and medical rationale. In my instance, my back and sleep apnea claims.
In the both these claims the OBGYN opinion was favored. Her opinion used no medical rationale, was not an expert in the field, and the very opinion contradicted itself with stating a breathing device was not used ( CPAP) for sleep apnea, yet to discount the fatigue associated with Hypothyroidism stated that with CPAP use I wake up refreshed, so no higher rating for hypothyroid. No service connection for sleep apnea, because no use of breathing machine and no complaints in service.
While I rather enjoy getting on the bashing session of criticizing the VA claims practices, I cannot dismiss how these actions are more than just coincidental. JMO
Heh in regards to the Evidence Intake Center. That is the address that was given to me according to the region I am associated with, however, no green card receipts have been sent back. I'm starting to wonder if this new process isn't just another kink in the hose.
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On June 7, 2016 at 3:36 PM, EODCMC said:
Thanks Andy and Buck concerning CPAP. Yea, the folks I got it from should know what to do, if anything. I guess
I was inviting a discussion for any help anyone might give or receive concerning the machine use. I will add one comment for those that get claustrophobic. I found that wearing the machine while awake really helped prepare for sleep. Watch the news!
Buck, I am also a Vietnam vet with broken service. I retired while preparing for the 2nd Gulf war; they told me I was a bit long in the tooth to deploy and I hated staff duty.
Im finding my records are probably everywhere but I kept a full set in hard copy when I retired 14 years ago. When I asked the simple question I wasn't smart enough to know what a C File was. Since they are still gathering evidence for my only claim, I probably don't have a completed one yet. I assume I should just wait for a determination before requesting it.
Thanks everyone for your help.
You can try different varieties of masks, nose pieces, and harnesses. Myself I tried the full face mask and it was too restrictive. I then tried the nasal pillows. Those did the trick. More comfortable and the mask seal was perfect no more leaks. You can ask for those and go for a trial an error to see which option is best for your needs. There are different mask options. JMO
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The folk above are right on the money. I can't really state how my claim worked as I fell under different circumstances and the order in which I received the my benefits. Circumstances and situations differ quite a bit.
You are either going to need an opinion from a vocational specialist or a doctor opinion stating that you are unemployable due to service connected conditions. These two combined or individually will open the door for IU.
I have both service related and job related injuries that impaired my career enough that I could not perform my job tasks and could not be cross trained.
You are at 90% so while this claim in your case is going to be tricky however it is possible. Others and myself have and are proof of that. Please I cannot stress enough, don't compare your claim to others because the specifics of each claim can differ widely and they impact your situation quite a bit.
If you have a rating that is at least 70% or a combination of disabilities with one being rated at least 60% and others adding up to 70% then this will open the door for IU.
"VA will interpret the schedular requirements in 38 C.F.R. 4.16(a) to mean that combined 70 percent rating is only required if no single disability is rated at 60 percent disabling." Buck is right on the target with this.
The VA is going to ask you to play doctor and state which disabilities keep you from working. This is a well known trap. You are not a doc or a vocational specialist. I would consider stating that all your service connected disabilities hinder and make employment extremely difficult or not possible. These are facts, the seriousness of your medical conditions will back this statement.
You are going to have to make on choice on whether it is more beneficial for you to continue working or not. If you believe your job position is in jeopardy and can prove it with medical documentation and job related evidence then I would consider the IU route.
If you are able to work and continue to work then you are not really individually unemployable. That doesn't mean that you are not disabled and are having difficulties. Just means that you can do something to be make some money, but the question is whether that alone would be enough?
I made the decision. I would rather have gone out on my terms, whether via medical retirement, than be fired. For me that was the best decision I could make for myself and my family. JMO
I kind of hit a bunch of areas. I hope the information is of some help. Good luck.
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On June 5, 2016 at 6:37 AM, EDWIN said:
Since all the recent results show everything that is wrong with my back , now I have to wait until the Appeal.
I kind of got ahead of myself, but really get medical attention and treatment first, that is the most important thing. For the most part I managed to get the VAMC to do a few things that helped such as trigger point injections, massage, acupuncture and of course medications. No pain relievers but the VAMC was nice enough to provide some muscle relaxers. That only addresses the muscle tension and spasms. Heat and ice are great, you can ask to get cold and hot packs. They offer some pain releasing creams and analgesics. The even offer some with capsicum creams which provides some relieving heat. You can also ask about tens units. All of these items helped me and I still used them to this day. My treatments are more frequent and complex on a rotating schedule, however, every little thing that you can do can make a significant difference.
Oh and walking and swimming are great low impact for exercise.
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I would say not necessarily, but for health sake yes. If it is becoming a problem sure follow through on getting it checked out. Just curious what was your (MOS) Navy job specialty code?
You should have a good chance if your specialty exposed you to high noise without a nexus, I don't understand why tinnitus is denied so much by the VA claim system. It is kind of a no brainer, but that is the VA for you. In my claim I didn't need to get one, the C&P doc made the nexus.
What was the basis for denial? Did you get any results back from the NOD? Or has it been recent?
Tinnitus tops out at 10% but you can be rated for hearing loss as well if your loss is significant and had been documented. You have to look at the rating criteria on the eCFR, depends on frequency and shift.
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8 hours ago, 63Charlie said:
I DO NOT have a copy of my military service records, or C-file just yet.
Ebenefits say I'll get a copy some time between 2018 and 2019.
How lovely.
Sent a FOIA request and time is running out, just as soon as the twenty business days are elapsed and no copy of my c-file,,, I'm appealing to the OGC.
If the OGC fails to timely respond in 20 business days I will seek an injunction in federal court to have a court order forcing them to comply with the rules/timelines.
I'm at a huge disadvantage without knowing what's in the file the VA is using to make decisions.
I think the C-file is going to shed some light about what medical opinions are in it are saying
i have begun to feel like I'm treated like a mushroom.
The VA feeds me crap..... and keeps me in the dark..
Heh keep at it, eventually the light will shine through. Just keep pushing the right buttons like you are. You having to go through the OGC has me at the very least curious. How long do you have on the 20 business day wait? Has there been any correspondence as since you made the initial request for information? Or is it strictly relying on ebenefits?
Paranoid, ....why yes very. 
Bilateral conditions?
in VA Disability Claims Research
Posted
eCFR
§4.26 Bilateral factor.
When a partial disability results from disease or injury of both arms, or of both legs, or of paired skeletal muscles, the ratings for the disabilities of the right and left sides will be combined as usual, and 10 percent of this value will be added (i.e., not combined) before proceeding with further combinations, or converting to degree of disability. The bilateral factor will be applied to such bilateral disabilities before other combinations are carried out and the rating for such disabilities including the bilateral factor in this section will be treated as 1 disability for the purpose of arranging in order of severity and for all further combinations. For example, with disabilities evaluated at 60 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent and 10 percent (the two 10's representing bilateral disabilities), the order of severity would be 60, 21 and 20. The 60 and 21 combine to 68 percent and the 68 and 20 to 74 percent, converted to 70 percent as the final degree of disability.
(a) The use of the terms “arms” and “legs” is not intended to distinguish between the arm, forearm and hand, or the thigh, leg, and foot, but relates to the upper extremities and lower extremities as a whole. Thus with a compensable disability of the right thigh, for example, amputation, and one of the left foot, for example, pes planus, the bilateral factor applies, and similarly whenever there are compensable disabilities affecting use of paired extremities regardless of location or specified type of impairment.
(b) The correct procedure when applying the bilateral factor to disabilities affecting both upper extremities and both lower extremities is to combine the ratings of the disabilities affecting the 4 extremities in the order of their individual severity and apply the bilateral factor by adding, not combining, 10 percent of the combined value thus attained.
(c) The bilateral factor is not applicable unless there is partial disability of compensable degree in each of 2 paired extremities, or paired skeletal muscles.