ArNG11

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.

Did you get anywhere in your pursuits?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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?

I don't know if this will be of any help, but, I thought I would touch on this, since it recently happened to me with my claim. Be careful with the change of diagnosis. I was extremely lucky as my claim was still alive, sort of. In the middle of this last appeal my mental health rating went from 50% to 70% and had a change in diagnosis. It went from adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood, to PTSD and other. I can't verify the exact medical coding or any part of the decision as the VA has ignored and played the shell game with my FOIA request for the mental C&P exam. They have been trying to lead me around Muskogee Regional Office and the Evidence Intake center. Neither have produced my request for records. Also this last decision, I am still waiting on the decision letter. I haven't pursued getting the decision just yet however, because my appeal according to Muskogee has been certified to the Board. BVA confirmed me of that fact as well. I guess I'll find out more in a couple of years of waiting. My last trip to Muskogee was not very fruitful. Gotta tell you though " sorry we can't help you" stated with a smile really burst my bubble. I understand why folks do extreme things when treated like this. I'm not stressing because I have the exam "unofficially documented" but I want those reports and exam. Heck I want my last decision letter but that was a no go as well. I have to say, with my particulars, I had an approval for Voc Rehab but I didn't have to go through the regular process of getting the Voc Rehab exam and denial. Heck I didn't even get to go to the Voc Rehab appointment, but got an approval for this benefit, a few months later after getting out of the hospital in 2014. All this verifies is the VA regional office has a nice system of denial and run around. They don't follow regulations at all and kind of make things up as they go along. Such BS.

Heh I am really glad to see you posting. Did you have any luck with more specialists medical opinions? I went through almost a dozen and I received no go's. I didn't just try local either. Most would be interested but none would commit. I really despise that, but it is what it is.

Nice to read you posting again. I hope things have been looking up. It's amazing how much these agencies swear up and down that there was no danger, yet when the claims hit the high courts, the tune changes quite a bit. I wish I was as paranoid then as I was later in life. MSDS (material safety data sheets) explain the dangers all to well. Pride,ignorance, opt tempo, young and stupid syndrome (I am calling that on myself) and false hope of being taken care of by your corresponding agency, well reality gives you a rude awaking when it bites. I never got anywhere with the appeals on the Benzene claim. I could not get any doctors to opine on such a controversial and lengthy fight. The best I could do was appeal the decision but without a nexus I am dead in the water. No pun intended. My only small hope, is in my class action lawsuit against KBR. I say mine, I didn't start it, just part of it, but it includes hundreds of plaintiffs. I just went along for the ride. I joined with Motley & Rice. The appeals should be coming up soon, but with the BS loop holes, there is no telling. Of all things jurisdiction and a solid list of bases is a major hold up. Last e-mail I received from my law dog was the hearing was delayed until mid December of this year, believe Dec 16th to be precise. Rice, has been getting sworn statements and testimony from higher ranked officials and subordinates and you know the common folk, the personnel that actually worked the dirty jobs. I hope this year, the case gets some traction.

Yeah I have the same done with one of my mri's of the brain as well. The rest have been done to various disks in the C,T,L spine. Kind of looks like the images when you do a barium swallow on the screen Oddly enough the docs in my case have not done a myleogram. Even with the disco grams I'm not sure exactly what dyes were used every time then. At the time it just looked like a black poof of ink on the screen. The point that I was trying to get across was that multiple diagnostic exams, when used together, the collected data results in a more accurate picture of the actual problems with a spine injury.

I feel like I should mention this as well. You need a variety of exams to really get the true picture of your back or spine disability. EMG, x rays with dye, MRI with dye: preferably with closed MRI system, then have this information utilized to get the best course of treatment. No less would be doing the patient an injustice. There is a system that has been around for a few years or so where they do the whole body scan. This is great for locating and observing the actual trouble spots that you have when your spine is just supporting your own weight.

Thanks Buck. My sleep apnea claim, well I am kind of touchy on. VA BS at its finest. I'll make my arguments in DC and go after the junk science and the dismissing of medical evidence, proof of symptoms and the IME, then I will go from there I don't know. We each follow our pursuits. We are the only ones that can say it is over, well maybe after a Supreme Court Justice says no, but you know what I mean. Hang in there Buck and folks.

Look at it this way, it is not the C&P that proves or disapproves the claim. Their sole job in an initial exam is to ascertain whether the service injury or rather the injury/disease that you filed a claim for is service related. This information gets to the rater and they are supposed to make the determination by evaluating all the evidence whether there is enough information to service connect. If there is enough evidence and medical documentation then service connection is granted, if there is not then they don't. You have service connection, now you need to get a correct rating. That can't be done without medical evidence. A doctor or specialist has to make the determination of how bad your injury is. You have appeal options. If you disagree then follow your appeal options with a Notice of Disagreement. If you have medical evidence in your service medical records then use that. If you do not, then you need contemporary medical records. Then it will be necessary for you to get a medical opinion to show that your condition is worse than what the VA states it is. Stay in treatment, not just for the claim but your health. You can use that later to help your claim out if you are going to go for an increase.

Without medical expertise, he or she has no business making a medical determination to that effect. What evidence did they use to come to that conclusion? Do you have medical records of any type for treatment? Do you have the Line of Duty report of the incident? Do you have copies of any post service medical treatment? Those treatment records are going to be very important? You have the report I take it when you went in for sick call, that is the event. Get an independent medical opinion to back up your claim if you are going for an increase. VA medical centers, personnel can't make a medical determination without backing it with medical science. What medical facts or records were the doc's opinion (VA) based on? Or was it a physical therapist or nurse that stated this? Find a new doc or nurse, because that is BS. From what you wrote seems like a case of CYA. You have service connection for a back injury. That is fact,you are service connected for this injury. I am no doctor, however, common sense would dictate that unless you had any other injuries post service, that the pain could be related to your injury. Again I'm not a doc, but logically this would seem like a strong possibility. Claim or not dump this medical personnel if you can. Change doctors or something to that effect. Doesn't sound like they are looking out for your health or your injury. JMO

I didn't have a nexus when I first filed my sleep apnea claim and sleep disturbances claim. I had two sleep studies one in 2009 and one in 2012. 2012 is when I got my CPAP machine. The VA C&P doc totally dismissed this information and there my claim went. DENIED. You don't get a sleep study with out symptoms, insurance companies just won't pay for it. I think my issue was that the 2009 study was a split night study, 4 hours one night, 4 hours on another night. The sleep tech stated the results would be the same, however, I disagree. Some folks don't hit enough REM cycles to get episodes happening in a 4 hour span of time, however, I am not a doc. Again I just read a bunch. Don't take my word for it. However, I will bring up a point, a sleep study requested less than a year that I came of active duty sure got dismissed really easily. Two sleep studies sure constitutes symptoms of a disease or illness. Funny coincidence though, my last set of C&P exams, I received service connection for sleep disturbances which I claimed when I submitted my gulf war claim. The DRO made a medical conclusion that the sleep disturbances were related to the Anxiety and Depression. Last time I checked DRO's are not medical professionals. Sorry can't help being honoree.

Now yes this is an excellent nexus. There are many studies out there, verified studies, that make this conclusion. Your examiner reviewed records, your service medical records, backed the information with medical science, not junk science or absence of evidence in service, I don't think medically speaking the VA has a prayer to refute this medical finding from an expert medical professional!!! Fist bump on your actions, that will be a nice can of STFU, in your face, VA C&P dorks. Don't get all high and mighty like I do, but hell yeah, JMO that will be extremely difficult to discount and refute. The question remains whether the regional office is going to follow correct protocol? I have my hopes for your claim.

Yes this is a fact. I wish we, as patients, could have easy access to this information, either before going to a sleep center or taking the machine to the vendor. I would most definitely make a copy of the data or transfer the data to another source as well. That way you still have the saved measurements. You know, in case the technician accidentally erases the data. The SD card records all that information, how many full respirations, how long they are, how many apnea related events per hour, for how many seconds, and how often a minute. They use this information to either lower or increase the pressure in order to try to decrease the apneatic events. Along with other data depending on what brand of machine and what features it has. A machine like a bi-pap will have more complex information and specifics. In my mind, damaged as it is, I would take an educated guess that this data would be relevant to a Sleep Apnea C&P. More so for the technician and sleep doctor to use the data to make adjustments on your machine to reduce the sleep problems. But I'm not an expert, I just read about the information packets about the machine and medical information relating to this.

Sorry to hear that Buck. It is all a damn game to them, the VA. Doctors have to make a living and while I understand the premise of not biting the hand that feeds you, I guess I take the ethics to an extreme. I read all the warnings and the paperwork that you get with rx's so with what your doc stated, I call bull s@*!, but it is what it is. You are doing well to get rid of dr mrs. Makes me sad though, the people you think are supposed to be looking out for your health are the ones that do that treacherous b.s.