john999

You know I got SC'ed for CAD as secondary to DMII due to AO exposure. I wonder if I should file a claim for my heart trouble due to presumtive AO rule. It won't make any difference in my rating. I wonder if I would have to go for another c&p exam? All my AO disabilites spring from the DMII so the VA says including PN and the CAD. That is what I used to get them SC'ed since that was the only way at the time.

Betty's claim and Terry Higgins story were the things that turned my head around. If their claims and their experience was valid then I believed that a veteran who is determined can win. I still believe that a vet can win almost any claim if there is any evidence at all. They have to wait and they have to pursue it. When Berta said she sent her husband's ashes in as evidence I thought to myself "here is a person who is going to beat this system". I think VSO's get jaded and burned out because they see so many claims. I know that most lawyers don't want to touch claims that don't have very good chance of winning. So the difficult claims are still in the hands of the vet. He/she has to find that evidence. After 40 or 50 years that is tough. It is easy to sit in judgement of others when you have yours. I have done it. You have to hear the whole story. If I had not ended up in the VA rubber room back in 1972 I would have never gotten service connected because I got a PD discharge. This was a fluke. If I had waited five years to file I would have been denied to this day.

Ask for an increase!

Isn't it only in states where medical marijuana is legal?

TestVet You know when you first started posting about human medical experiments I thought of the movie" Jacob's Ladder". I did not know anything about Project Shad. No one else here knew anything either I don't think. If you screamed to the public about what the army did to you most people would shrug because they just can't get into that frame of referrence. What I have learned over the years is that governments lie. When I hear accounts from vets I sometimes think "oh, this could not be true", but it could be true. What the VA did to me they did to thousands of others. The difference is that my doctor went to bat for me. He wrote the report the VA asked for and then deep sixed. After the nation decided that they did not want to fight the war in Vietnam the military dumped thousands of troubled members as cheaply as possible. It was all about the money. Bury the dead and get rid of the walking wounded. Do it cheaply.

You can file for TDIU now. The sooner you file the better. If you can't work due solely to your SC conditions you should get IU. By waiting to file you are giving up potential money.

I called the BVA and was told that my claim has been decided and will be shipped out to me next week. This is my CUE claim. My lawyer never got back to me, so I called the BVA ombudsman. I can't believe I will win this thing. It seems to outlandish that the VA would admit they made an error that will cost them retro from 1971. Who knows? I have the evidence, but I think the BVA will kick the can down the road. They will find some reason to mininterpret my CUE and decide that I was asking for a reweight of the evidence. Me and my lawyer made it plain that is not what we were saying.

It is sort of miserable to have been a veteran in a forgotten war. Korea and Vietnam vets get the same treatment. OIF/OEF have dragged on for so long they have sucked the oxygen out of the public's mind regarding war and veterans. You just can't compete with 19 year old's being killed in a land where the people still live in the 12th century. This is the future: low intensity wars that never end. They just change location.

What brought you here? Do you want help? Are you here just to argue? What is the point of all this? You can try to "expose" the VA, but nobody cares. The people who could do something don't care and the rest don't know. If you can keep your 100% just be glad. That is all you get. They just give you money to compensate you. That's it.

You wonder how nobody noticed this vet decending into hell. However, it happens. A marine captain home from Afghanistan got drunk and killed another driver just a week ago. This guy had served 4 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He had PTSD and 2-3 PH's. He had a head injury. He was acting very weird for weeks before this crash. I think when people get this disturbed they cannot help themselves. Nobody is screening these people.

I went from 0% to 60% for CAD by basically just filing a NOD and going to a DRO Hearing. I did get some more tests, but I did not think I had the evidence for such an increase. I say when in doubt file that NOD. Often by just using the system's appeals you can win more compensation. Many vets never appeal. Big mistake.

I think you can get tricare and a few other benefits if you are medically retired. I think you still have to choose between VA compensation and military retirement pay. This is unless you serve 20 years.

My impression was that Filner believes PTSD started with the OIF?OEF wars. There were no vets with PTSD before this time. Everything this guy thinks about started in 2001. Trusting the VA to do the right thing with PTSD vs PD DX is like believing in the tooth fairy.

VA doctor "lack of guts" syndrome is why we get IMO's and IME's. There was a time a few years ago when my PCP (bless her) would write letters for me. Now I have a new doctor and she won't. Change of policy. My old PCP wrote nexus letters that hit the ball out of the park. These were formula letters she had on her computer. The VA knows exactly what a vet needs for SC.

That paperwork on your ability to function is important. Fill it out as you would on your very worst day of the year. If the form asks if you need help with daily chores of living say "yes". If your meds make it hard for you to get around unassisted let them know. If you have ever fallen let them know. If in doubt think worst case.

Could you drive it over to the VARO and get date stamped copies? The VA can go back one year from the time you applied for IU if you have evidence you were unemployable and the VA knew you were unemployable. Actually, if the VA knows you are unemployable due to a SC condition that is an inferred claim for IU. However, the VA just waits until you file. When I got out in 1971 my doctor said I was unemployable. This was an inferred or informal claim for IU. The VA just ignored it. I was never told to file for IU. I did not even know what it was, and the VA never informed me I had such a claim. I met all requirements for 100%. I got 10%.

If he has MD behind his name he can help you a lot. If you are trying to get an increase or IU then he could say that your pain meds make it impossible for you to work. The question is will he do that? What kinds of meds do you get? If you get meds for severe pain he should be able to say you are unable to work or say you have chronic pain syndrome. When rater sees you are on morphine or some other powerful narcotic they conclude you are in bad shape. Nobody takes those drugs for fun. I have never met anyone who takes long acting morphine for a high. Fentanyl is awful as well. No high, but some pain relief.

Yes, I have experience with them. Karl is doing my CUE at the BVA. He at least took my case and flew down twice on his own dime to represent me before the DRO and BVA. Now he is a little bit touchy. If he represents you he wants you to talk only to him and not the VA. I like him. He is not the most experienced VA lawyer. Otherwise he would not have taken my CUE probably.

Does your lawyer work pro bono?

I think "concise" is a key factor. Long winded and complicated explanations will just not be read. Is this an appeal or a new claim for increase?

If you get your rating and depression is not addressed consider it denied and file a NOD. The VCAA letter is the letter the VA sends you saying what evidence you need to win your claim. If they don't address every claim you make something is wrong. For any mental disorder you should get a C&P exam. Don't assume your records tell the story.

Yes, now those combat troops can rest for a few months and then off to Afghanistan, Yeman, Somalia etc. I don't believe for one second the war in Iraq is over. What happens when a US base is attacked? Will Non-combat soldiers come out with their hands up? We are going to be in Iraq for 20 years.

You were set up!

I had a BVA hearing about 7 months ago. My lawyer is against me contacting the BVA on my own to ask about the status of my claim. I emailed him and he did not answer me. I am getting pissed. If I contact the BVA will they contact my lawyer to let him know we have had contact? I think I am getting jerked around here. I don't know if my claim is on the docket to be heard (how can that be) or if I am just waiting for a decision. It is a CUE. My lawyer seems to think all we have to do now is wait, but how long? If the claim is waiting to be heard that is one thing, but it was heard at a traveling BVA hearing. Any suggestions? I think my lawyer believes I have become a pest.

I would apply for the ChampVA first. You apply for educational benefits when you need them. One thing is that you may be able to get an exemption on your property tax now that you are P&T. You go to deed office and show them your rating for P&T and they take you off the tax rolls. That is a big benefit and saves me around $2000 a year. The ID cards are no big deal. If you live close to military base you can get them there.