ArNG11

It was just your turn on that day. Some times it is mine for several.

Yes if the exams were done at a VAMC, however, for outsourced exams such as QTC and VES, you cannot get those results until after a decision is made. eVet does has information from the medical centers but not the third party exams.

The timelines they quote now for a simple FOIA request is ridiculous. But yes it is sadly funny. I'm beginning to think that my CFIle request which was done in 7 days on my door step are gone forever. I think my odds were more like 1 out of 500 thousand lucky. Now I can't even get a simple one date 3 page copy of a C&P exam. This is all legitimate now to thats what kills me. This is the new and improved process. Hah what a laugh!

Congrats. Way to get er done!. Take care and good health to you.

Be careful with the shell game the claim centers pull. More importantly be informed on what symptoms pertain to multiple conditions. By no means try to be a doctor, but a little reading goes a long way in being able to support and defend your claim.

I recall specific circumstances when I submitted sleep disturbances and fatigue with my apnea and hypothyroid claim. They were denied and dismissed, yet later, throughout the appeals process and submission for anxiety and depression suddenly a DRO made a medical determination that fatigue and short term memory was due to my service connected hypothyroidism and that my sleep disturbances was service connected and part of my depression and not my sleep apnea. Convenient I think. A Veteran must very intimate with the regulations and symptoms that pertain and surround their conditions. Geesh almost like you should be a doctor or something. Yeah thats right though, Veterans aren't doctors, they can only report symptoms and timelines. They can describe the problems and indicate what symptoms they suffer from. Offer medical evidence and supportive opinions to support their claim, but in no way shape or form can a claimant make a medical conclusion to what symptoms belong to which disease. Heh just giggling about this fact, I guess a DRO, a claims examiner and such can't do that either only trained medical specialists and MD's can. Competence is a big thing huh. I am being an ass this morning but I ask that folks think about these statements. The crap happens almost to the " T " in many a claims.

There is a problem in this. I don't know but somewhere in the regulations and CFRs the VA has the obligation to assist the Veteran in developing their claim. You know the duty to assist. In claims such as PTSD or lets keep it general say, depression and anxiety claims, overlapping symptoms are unavoidable, they are present in multiple conditions. Anger, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, occupational and social difficulties, homicidal and suicidal thoughts and tendencies, are some examples. It is rather obvious that the stronger your claim is the more the Veterans Administration tries to dismiss and restructure the evidence against the claim.

Al and Andy have you guys thought about what the VA claims centers excuse is on getting Veterans records when the system is totally digital. I often wonder on what excuse they will use on Veterans and their attorneys for not following disclosure requirements. You know the laws and regulations that state they have 20 business days to respond to an FOIA request. My guess is that suddenly in the United States there will be a shortage of CD's and record requests cannot be fulfilled due to supplies.

It is interesting how the rating side of the VA tries to explain the reason and basis for decisions. Like most others, decisions on my ratings changed several times with evidence that I know for a fact was in VA's possession at the times my decisions where rendered. Of course I can't prove that conclusively, however, I know what the VA had access to and when the VA had access to these records. Again I am obsessive and I draw on conclusions based on my claims specific details. My ratings changed with information that was there from the start, the ratings only changed because I filed an NOD and I pointed to specific references in my records that were there all along, yet still I didn't receive the ratings my evidence, medical opinions and records spelled out and warranted. In my case I honestly believe someone saw when the ball was dropped and tried to rectify the situation, my beef is why must we as claimants, Veterans , have to go through this painful run around muck. My thoughts are that this system has been tried and proved very precisely. It is by design. Many folks have made this conclusion and assessment decades ago,yet the process and fight still remains long and tedious and virtually the same. Same old same old.

Take it easy bubba, slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Good luck.

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.

say what? Where did you read this, I have never seen it officially either.

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.

They usually incorporate this in the exam when they ask how you sleep at night. At least most times they do.

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.

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.

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!!

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

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.

Sweet! I'm hoping in my case I don't have to resort to a CUE, however, I am prepared to go that way, just much rather not. VA doesn't need any more upper hands in my claims.

Seems silly to say this, but send that NOD in triplicate via green card with a bow on it Andy. I kid you not, the VA will try to state one was never filed. I'd keep a copy of one in a safe place where only you know of its location. Paranoid, ....why yes very.

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.

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?