john999

The IME is the thing to catch the conscience of the king. The king being the VA. Without my IME/IMO's I would be still at 30% instead of IU. A good IME/IMO can change a denial into a grant better than all the talk in the world.

If this is a trend the VA is going to find a way to tighten up the regs on sleep apnea. They will probably define it as a lifestyle disease. That is just my opinion form dealing with the cheap bastards.

"As likely as not" is the least strong term of association with a condition and military service. It is the 50/50, tie goes to the runner, benefit of doubt, language. If the VA says a condition is as likely as not service connected you win. If they say "less likely than not" you lose. You would want a doctor on your side to say at least "more likely than not". You don't want to rely on the benefit of the doubt. You don't want there to be doubt. What I like from a doctor I am paying is "In my medical opinion the vet's conditon is a direct result of his military service", or words to that effect. Maybe I am just an old softy.

You know what the VA will sometimes do if you send in the IU form. They will adjust your rating so that you fit the profile of 4.16 A. Send in the IU form! I sent mine in when I was just 30% and unemployed. I got TDIU back to the date I filed the form and not to the date they bumped me up to 70%. If you fit 4.16B send in the IU form.

Buddy letters are even more important in non combat PTSD claims. Get as many letters as you can describing what incidents you witnessed. If you are a combat vet you often have combat badges. These verify stressors. Non combat PTSD stressor has to be proved with evidence. Buddy letters are evidence.

If worse comes to worse get yourself admitted to psychiatric ward at the VAMC. You get three hots and a cot. This would be the last resort.

Bring the letters to the C&P exam. The doctor doing the exam may never see or read those letters. The rater will probably see them. Did you get date stamped copies of the letters you gave to the VA?

The question was is VA going to try and roll back SC on DmII due to AO? How could they do that? Would vets have to return compensation money? Undoing regs on DMII would be a nightmare for VA. It is easier to stop something from happening than to undo something that has been in place for almost ten years. If the VA undid regs on DMII they would have to also undo all the compensation awards for secondary condtions. You talk about a mess. What about DIC awarded due to DMII?

If you send in your employment questionaire and you say you are working I think that will trigger some investigation. It does not say "marginal employment on the form. It just asks if you worked during the last year. That is like waving a red flag in the VA's face. Has anyone here on IU ever sent a employment questionaire back saying "yes" they worked in the last year? I have been IU for 9 years and I have not worked. They will keep me under the hairy eyeball until age 67 I think.

No, I think DmII is a done deal. The cost of the DMII is what probably made them want to question the newer conditions. They realize that most RVN vets will die from SC condition and they will be on the hook for DIC to a million widows. If they can delay or reverse IHD that will save the VA money which is all they think about.

Right, you need a doctor or someone with creditials to say you are unemployable due soley to your PTSD. The VA does not connect the obvious dots. Your claim is decided by a layman so to speak. The rater has no special medical or legal knowledge. You have to spell it out for them. I think this is what me and Phil are trying to say. I once had a rater say that because I was unemployed it could not be determined if I was unemployable. This is what you are dealing with at your good old VA. I got two docs to say I was IU due to my SC condition. Even that did not do it the first time because one doctor mentioned a NSC condition. The VA said that was the reason I could not work the NSC condition. It took another IMO to get that right.

It will help I think, but there needs to be more evidence because it does not say you are IU. That is why you need medical report by a MD. You need your stressor verified. You need a DX of PTSD and you need GAF.

If you have 70% for any mental condition that is enough to apply for IU if you can't work. You don't need PTSD as long as your MH problems are SC. It does not matter what they call it. Using MMPI alone to deny PTSD is unheard of as far as I know. Do you have combat awards or badges? What was your stressor? Almost every MMPI says that patient is exaggerating symptoms.

I wonder if we vets are in VA studies without being told. The AO and Gulf War Registry is a longitudinal study of the health effects of AO and other hazards. This is what we are told. What is the VA and government really doing with our information? I know Feres is a way for the military to escape liability for injury and sickness of active duty except in form of compensation. When they do things like giving LSD to soldiers without their knowledge that is criminal, but they escape via Feres doctrine. If a soldier murders someone on active duty he does not escape, but the government can do it and walk away with clean hands. I need to read more about it.

Isn't there much evidence that the chemical companies and the military knew that AO was dangerous. They went right ahead and used it anyway. Now they pay compensation to victims of premeditated murder. No one in government went to jail and nobody at DOW was hung by the neck. If exposing 3 million military members to AO is not a war crime what would be? I hope he suit against Feres succeeds.

The thing is that if even marginal employment triggers a C&P exam for IU vet that is going to be unpleasent. If you are 10$ over the limit is this going to bring the hammer down? I believe the Unemployability Questionaire does not ask about marginal employment. The form asks about employment, period. If you say "yes" I was employed while collecting IU I think that will trigger investigation. Who wants that?

They may have got you mixed up with another vet. Is there another P. Sawyer that uses your VAMC?

TestVet Don't get me wrong. Feres is an abomination. I just think that whatever the court does the congress will undo because billions of dollars are on the line. You were a postal worker. You know that FECA lets the civilain federal government absolve itself of injuries to employees even if agency is grossly negligent. They just pay workers compensation even if they sent you out on route with no brakes and they knew it. The governmetn protects itself.

If overturning Feres is going to cost the government money and add to debt the lawsuit will sink. Congress will pass a new law to get around anything done in the courts. It is not a matter of right or wrong. It is a matter of money. Uncle Sam created Feres to protect treasury. Now more than ever the mood is to cut government spending. If courts kills Feres the congress and Prez will pass a new law that does the same as Feres. That is just my opinion. Feres has existed under both Dems and Repubicans. The motive for preseving it is the same.

The spouse is entitled to a survivor benefit. She/he can take their own SSA benefit at 62 and then take the survivor benefit at 65-66 if it is larger which it probably will be. If the survivor waits until her full retirement age she gets more than if she takes survivor benefit at minimum age. The earlier the spouse takes the survivor benefit the less they get just like regular SSA. If you take it at age 62 you get about 30% less than if you take it at full retirement age. From a practicle stand point (which me and my wife did not do) it is better for the spouse of disabled vet to keep working until full retirement age. Then she/he takes full retirement. This is if money is going to be a problem long term. You have to figure the survivor spouse only gets about 1200 dollars a month from DIC, so survivor needs full SSA. This is if that is the money the survivor will be living on until they pass away. People live to be 90 years old today. That is a long time to collect SSA and DIC. My aunt collected DIC for 50 years.

Can your wife work? You are in this for the long haul. There is just no way to tell how long it will take to get IU or SSD. You need to think in terms of at least 6-18 months. You want to be prepared for worst case. It may go faster, but there is no real way to speed it up beyond what the VA or SSD decides.

Do you have any private insurance or medicare? I would get second opinions on all that surgery especially your neck. VA hospitals are teaching hospitals. They need bodies.

Keep in mind that evidence is what wins claims and if you have the evidence you will win eventually. Getting the VA to read the evidence is another matter.

John Important question for you: Have you ever caught a snook? Ever caught a big redfish?

Remember Terry the guy who was in the VA nursing home for years. He used to pull the fire alarms when the personnel refused to help him. His story was so bizzare I did not believe it at first. He was paid $200,000 in damages from the VA nursing home. He did have some mental problems, but this guy fought the good fight against huge odds. He got his 100%. I met him once. He had terrible physical problems as well. I think his kidneys were failing. Carlie and Phil were there. Poor Rockhound got a medical discharge and then the VA said he just had a personality disorder so he got no compensation for years and years living in poverty.