john999

You probably should file a CUE for the K award. I am in the same boat. I have service connected DMII and also take pain meds for my back and feet. If the VA granted service connection for ED they owe you the K award. Maybe the VA thinks they can get away with not paying. Those mothers will do anything to avoid paying a vet. The VA is also really stupid.

VA pharmacy is pretty good about filling scripts. I get mine by mail and it takes a few days after the doctor sends it to the pharmacy. VA ships narcotic pain meds through regular mail which is reckless IMO. If you really need them you can pick them up at the pharmacy. Don't worry and just get the money the VA owes you. There are lots of vets out there in bad shape but they just don't know enough to file a claim.

You have to fight the power.

If the Vet has PTSD he might have committed suicide as a result. That would be service connected would it not?

I would do as Bronco has suggested. How many years was the vet 100% before he died? If not 10 years or direct service connected death it may be decided on technical aspects of law. This is why you probably need a lawyer.

MR. CUE Just get your money! Relax and let the lawyer do his job. I think you are driving yourself crazy. It is just not worth it. If the lawyer comes to you with a decent offer from the VA take it and live your life.

Yes, if you are out of work for a year file for TDIU and SSDI. One requirement of SSDI is that you will be off work for at least a year. If you get SSDI that will help with TDIU and probably vice/versa. If you get SSDI you get Medicare within two years.

I got PD diagnosis 50 years ago. Then I was diagnosed with service- connected bipolar disorder. I got a 70% rating for the bipolar thing, but forever after the PD dx followed me around. The VA just cannot get over it that they were wrong. No matter because I got the 70% and TDIU and then 100% schedular. I think just about every vet back in Vietnam days who suffered from any sort of emotional disorder ended up getting PD diagnosis from the Army and the VA. This is how they save money, especially the military. They can just give you the PD DX and discharge you at no cost to them. You get screwed and they save money.

Keep at it my friend. I think you will win in the end. You are fighting for all of us.

Bucker Since you have a purple heart and probably a CIB your PTSD DX is a slam/dunk. You have all the proof you need except the actual PTSD DX. Usually, a PTSD diagnosis gets at least a 30% rating if you are able to work. If you are unable to work or keep a job you should be able to get TDIU or 100% schedular. You should understand the ratings and symptoms of PTSD the VA uses.

If you want easy access to VA rules and regulations get a copy of the Veteran's Benefits Manual. The VBM has everything you need to know and more. Some don't want to hear personal accounts of vets struggles. I think it is useful to read individual accounts because you get information about various pitfalls and success strategies. You can get a lot of information from regs and rules, but they don't tell you how to actually make a claim.

When I got TDIU I immediately appealed to get P&T because my IMO said it was permanent. I won the P&T about 6 months later. I did not want to wait five years because my state benefits depended on having p&t. I got a complete tax exemption based on being p&t.

"Nervousness" is not a diagnosis. "Anxiety disorder" is a diagnosis. If your :SMR's say nervousness you probably need a shrink to diagnose a legitimate emotional disorder such as depression, anxiety or PTSD.

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For federal worker's compensation they will send you for a second opinion and create disagreement until they find some doctor who will say you have grown an extra leg while off work. The VA does doctor shop as well. How can a C&P doctor opine on your SC status or not. They are just supposed to describe your condition. If your service records show an injury then it should be as like as not that your are service connected. That is benefit of doubt. I know they don't do that half the time and make you wait for years. They pay no penalty for this abuse.

I have service-connected DMII and 6 secondary conditions. I got a nexus report from a VA doctor back about 10 years ago for clots in my legs due to DMII. Would I have gotten that without some kind of report from a doctor tying the two conditions together....I doubt it. I got SC'ed for PN in all four limbs without a private nexus letter. I was shocked by that. The VA diagnosed PN which is secondary to DMII. The dispute we had was the actual rating. The VA finally SC'ed me for heart disease and PN secondary to DIM11. The hardest case I ever had was for depression/ptsd. The VA connected me but at a very low rating. It took years with all kinds of doctor's reports to get it to 70%. If you are not schedular 100% for one condition it is so hard to get to actual 100% even if you have had 90% TDIU for 20 years. I finally got actual 100% but VA still says I am unemployable. IMO you really must have some medical evidence to tie secondary conditions to the primary SC condition. You can show VA all the scientific medical reports you want and they just demand a nexus letter. It stinks because many private doctors don't want to get involved with patient's VA problems.

Mr. Cue For my CUE I had a lawyer and we went to Court of Vet Appeals. We both thought I had a slam/dunk case. We found out that according to the VA we could not prove the VA disregarding my evidence. How do you prove a negative? So we lost after 6 years of appeals. Bad taste in my mouth for the rest of my life. Cue just has to be black and white. No thought process or judgement. A joke since the VA uses nothing but subjective judgement and bias.

The first claim I filed in 1972 the VA ignored or failed to consider all my private doctors evidence. I did not know that at the time because VA was not required to list all the evidence they had. They would just "say" they did consider it all. I believed the VA did consider my doctor's evidence and that I had just lost. I filed a CUE on that basis many years later because it was obvious to any unbiased person that the VA ignored my evidence. Of course , I lost. Most Cue claims are pipe dreams. I have won one over the last 50 years.

You are getting your money! That is the thing! Congrats. You never get justice from the VA. You have to settle for money. Maybe that is justice in this society.

In places like Hyde Park and S. Tampa housing costs are insane. You have to really move into the county or outside the county to get a decent price. People from up north and selling out and bringing a ton of cash with them to buy a 2 million dollar house in sunny Florida. Eventually the home builders will pave over the entire state including the alligators to make a buck.

I was unable to work. I had SSDI. The VA denied me TDIU the first time. I got a doctor who was spouse of my lawyer to write me a report to say the obvious. I got my TDIU. I think they had a hardon for me because I complained so often about shoddy C&P exams. Usually, you have to spell it out for them via medical or vocational rehab evidence.

I have all kinds of sleep problems including OSA.

I agree that it is not worth the risk. If you have SSA earnings then I guess the VA could get that data regardless of your age.

I have been taking Ambien for a few weeks. That stuff is starting to depress me. I noticed that I sleep but don't feel rested. I think that stuff interrupts REM sleep. I feel really cranky. My poor wife is catching it. I am going to stop and just stay awake all night. All that sleeping med is really bad news as are tranquilizers. Addictive and they mess with your mind.

In my neighborhood in Tampa housing prices have exploded. In five years housing costs have doubled. Some of these people must be paying $20 thousand in taxes. It is insane. Where will it end.....crash!