john999

Do you have other medical insurance or medicare? I would not let the VA operate on my brain. I will not even let them pull a tooth now. Unfortunately, when you or your survivors sue the VA for malpractice the damage is already done. The VA buries their mistakes. I mean really buries them.

I requested my C-File. I got about half of it. I only found out when I went to BVA Hearing and saw the BVA judge had about twice as many documents from my file as I did. If you get to view your C-file and want them to make a few copies for you they will often do this for you. They did it for me, and my VARO is CHEAP.

I wonder how many military suffered TBI due to IED war tactics. The estimation is that 5 million served in Iraq and Afghanistan, and out of that 20% have PTSD. That is a million vets. You consider that all surviving Nam vet have a presumption of AO exposure, and that is another 800,000-1,000,000. I think congress is going to try and divert this tidal wave coming at them. My senator in Florida told me that there has already been attempts to change the AO law to make vets prove they were exposed to AO. These miserable draft dodgers will stop at nothing to protect their 1% donors from any new tax to take care of millions of suffering vets. Although I don't think much of VSO's ability to do claims I am willing to join if it means they can protect us from greedy and ungrateful congress. If you can't or won't pay then you can't play. That is how it works in American politics right or left. John

I would sure try and get the SSD so you can get medicare. Do you get all your medical care through the VA? That can be dangerous to your health. When I get worried I use my medicare to see private doctors. I have been SC for a heart condition for about 5 years. I have never seen a cardiologist at the VA. I would sure look into the PTSD claim. If that fails I bet your could get a claim for depression approved due to your medical conditions. If you believe any of your conditions are SC then claim them. If you can't work claim TDIU. That will make you 100% for pay reasons. I have a claim in for an increase and it has been almost a year in "Gathering Evidence" stage. Strange since all the evidence is at the VA hospital. John

You know sometimes just appealing can trigger a win. Yet, I think most vets do not appeal denials or low ball ratings. I wonder if this is on advice of VSO's.

Yes, he was mouth piece at the hearing. He was not going to share in the loot, so he is out of it. I don't know how these guys could have been so wrong and mislead me so badly. Now they just want to give up is my impression. Someone did not understand the law, or strong forces did not want me to win. If I had won then every vet prior to 1990 might have had a shot at a CUE on grounds of denial of due process.

You see that the guy who shot those people at Ft. Hood is being called a PD. He was at Ft Hood to be evaluated for PTSD and a TBI. I know what the guy did was awful, but it is possible that the TBI may have affected his personality. If the Army gets away with just saying he was a PD that means he was unstable before military service, and his possible PTSD and TBI may have had nothing to do with the murders he did. They also say it was just because of an argument. Let me see....a guy with a clean record has an argument with someone and goes nuts an kills 4 people and shoot a dozen more. This sounds like a cover-up to me. It is known that symptoms of TBI include profound depression and depression can led to suicidal violence in some cases.

Who denied your CUE? You can appeal the denial of the CUE. You need to see a copy of the denials, pronto. You know as John B. said you can't file an appeal, and a CUE on the same claim on the same issues at the same time. Your CUE must be on a claim that is final. For instance, you filed a claim in 2002 and were denied. The denial became final because you did not appeal. That you could file a CUE since the decision is final. Does not mean you will win, or that you have a good CUE, but you can file. What did you file the CUE on? Was it a previous decision before 2002 and it just so happened that the 2002 and your CUE were filed on same form? You don't want to mix these things up because the VA will get mixed up. I filed a CUE claim back in 2005. I had filed a claim for DMII also I think. Both claims were rated in same decision. I won the DMII claim and lost the CUE. I appealed the CUE denial and I also appealed the DMII claim because there were secondary conditions that were not granted. These claims were entirely different. Where have these claims been since 2002? That is 12 years.

Why was the 1990 PTSD claim denied? If it was denied for lack of stressor that might be CUE number one. John

CUE for EED is often a very tough road. I spent 7 years on it and lost recently. I have not given up completely. I think my lawyer has and is going to let me down easy. I would rather he just resign from my claim and send me all the work product. I am not sure he has to do that, but I want to take it to another lawyer for review.

The VA likes to fly by the seat of their pants when it comes to testing. I was rated for a heart condition with no tests being performed. I appealed that rating after getting stress test.

You might want to consult with a lawyer. If you work for DOE you have rights under MSPB. Being a disabled vet it will be very hard for them to fire you unless you violate some "written in concrete" rule or get really crazy. Usually, to get real help from EEOC under Rehab Act of 1973 (ADA by another name) the employer has to harm you in some way. They have to demote you, fire you, deny a promotion, or retaliate against you. It is like any lawsuit in that you have to show some damages. Just by filing an EEOC complaint you put them in your sights for retaliation. Do you have a union?

Berta I was also suspicious when I heard that PI's were trying to track down survivors of my wife's deadbeat EX. This guy never had a dime to his name. They have two daughters together. The so-called PI said there were remains of some fund that needed to be distributed to survivors. My wife took no notes nor did she get the PI to send her a letter before she spoke to them. I told her they could have been bill collectors not PI's looking for survivors. She got no phone number or even the name of the PI outfit. The "PI" mentioned SSA money that was left in an account, but I never heard of the SSA hiring PI's to track down survivors. Her Ex had no will nor estate as far as I know except maybe bad debts. So you think my wife and/or her kids might have a claim under Nehmer? I know so few facts and my wife does not understand or care. Her Ex was SC for a AO condition and I bet he died from either lung cancer or heart disease. John

If you are unable to work due to SC condition file for TDIU even if you are rated 10% because when you get TDIU your effective date will be the date you filed for it. You can lose years of TDIU retro if you wait until you have exact percentage rating to file for TDIU.

You got it Navywife. That is pretty much the exact language you need for TDIU. If you get 60% for non TDIU conditions you should get "S" as statutory rating. You should not even have to ask for it. However, I had to claim it and get it via a CUE. John

The thing is that VA is unpredictable. You could get TDIU but then if you go back to work and they do a re-exam there is no telling what they might decide. The VA is not that flexible. If I was not able to work due to PTSD I would file for TDIU. I don't think you can flit back between TDIU and work and expect rational result from VA. The very vast majority of vets who get TDIU never work again, and the VA knows this which is why they make it hard. If you got TDIU and then lost it then it could take years to get it back. When you go back to work you present them with evidence that you can work which they will use to probably fight future attempts to get TDIU again. This is my opinion of VA-Think. Maybe attempt to get 100% for your PTSD.

Can a married ex-spouse have any claim to DIC, or any other death benefit of a vet who dies from SC condition? My wife's ex-husband finally did something good and died. I am pretty sure the bastard died from an AO condition. Some private investigator called my wife to try and track down her ex's children. I was taking a nap or I would have told her to ask that he send her a letter making all these requests. She was in shock to an extent so she gave out a lot of information to a stranger over the phone. John

If you were to file a CUE and win how much money in retro would it mean? What would be consequence of CUE win? The fact your lawyer missed a filing deadline is the worst sin. Too bad you can sue her, or can you? After it became legal for lawyers to represent vets at earlier stages many incompetent and untrained lawyers jumped in thinking this would be easy money. When they find out they are in for a long fight they drop the ball and want out. John

I hate to see a vet get screwed by the VA because they feel it is their duty to keep greedy vets away from justified compensation. The money we get only partially compensates us for income loss. We get nothing for loss of quality of life. Who wants to be housebound? Who wants to be so sick or disabled they get R1 or any type of A&A? I would like to be working on Wall Street with Masters of the Universe making 20 million a year.

That violates your rights under the First Amendment. I don't know if ACLU would take you case but you could try. Who do work for.....Adolf Hitler? You were discriminated against when they walked you out unless your threatened someone perhaps. Just because they have "concerns" about your PTSD does not give them the right to treat you like a criminal. Do you work for the government?

Right, the VA often rates the vet at 30% for PTSD hoping the vet will go away. If you appeal with some decent evidence you get 50%. When your PTSD drives you into the unemployment line you get 70% or 100%. This takes years usually.

Is your claim still on appeal? If it is final then you must file a CUE claim to get it service connected and have any hope of getting it backdated to last eval. Why not scan your old rating decision to hadit so we can look at details of the rating. Leave of name, SSA# or clalim #. Getting retro for claims that should have been inferred is a major hurdle depending on exact wording of the rating and the evidence. You can always run it by a VA lawyer to see what he/she says. If there is a shot at mucho money they will probably take it for you. John

See I got "S" because my TDIU was entirely separate from the 60% rating I got about 5 years later. I used Bradley v Peake. TDIU was 70% for rating I got in 2001 and the housebound was for an extra 60+% I got for DMII and complications of DmII some years later. That was the key.

Would it be financially possible for your GF to stay at home with you. Do you tell your counselor the things you are telling us? Normally, they won't call the men in white coats unless you tell them you have a specific plan to kill yourself or to hurt someone else. If you are able to ignore the sounds and voices then your drugs are probably working to an extent. It is ok to let out the demons here. We all have demons. When I first got out of the army I did not care much if I lived or died. I was having symptoms of dissociative disorder. Reality felt warped to me. It was like my mind wanted to walk away from itself due to severe shocking experiences I had in Vietnam. I felt like all the color in reality just went to black and white. I told army doctors about this feeling like I was in a film and not in contact with reality and they told me I had a personality disorder, and that I was just a chronic complainer etc. This rocked my world in a very bad way. When I got a decent therapist I started to get better. I do think that when and if you begin to feel overwhelmed that you admit yourself to the hospital where you are actually safe. If you begin to hear voices commanding you to do things etc. that is the time to call crises line and get yourself admitted to the hospital. It means your drugs are not working.

I filed for an increase for DMII in June of 2013. I filed a FDC. It is now April of 2014. All the information is sitting there at the VA hospital to make a decision. I guess I will have to go for a C&P exam. Filing for an increase should be faster and easier, but I have never found that to be the case. You need new evidence to show your condition is worse.