john999

The lawyers take 20% of any retro he might get, so there is no upfront fee.

Before I started to read about VA rules and regs I believed that doctors decided claims based on the evidence. I did not understand that clerks are the ones making decisions that mean life or death to some vet. I have had numerous decisions come back that neither me nor my doctor could understand. The decisions contradicted themselves and appeared to be written by a 8 year old. I think it is just a numbers game. If the VA can show X number of claims moved to the next step that is success. I believe they do not even keep statistics on how many claims are approved and how many denied. They tell us that they do not know the percentage of claims approved out of all claims filed. How can that be? That is fundamental to know this. They probably do know the number but they don't release it.

Yes, if the VA admits that the reason they did not get or use the SMR's is because they ran out of type writter ribbon that is a gross error. The VA did not fully develope the claim. The VA says that since they got the records from the vet instead of NPRC that those records were considered tainted. I think I would go out and get me a laweyr for this. Did the Vet ever appeal the 0% rating? A CUE must be based on final and unappealed rating. CUE is a legal argument, so I like to get a legal eagle to argue it.

All these RO claims examiners do is try to match the evidence they have with their understanding of the regulations that award or deny compensation. How do you think they will come down in a case where there is doubt about the amount of compensation to award. It is always safer to award less rather than more. You don't get yelled at if you make ten awards of 10% than if you make ten awards of 100%. We know that someone decides just how many 100% awards are going to be granted. I would like to be in meetings where this sort of unstated quota is discussed. It must filer down to the new hires that when in doubt either deny or low ball. I just don't know how a new hire can really make a rating on a complicated issue. I figure they just deny it and let the Vet appeal. They are supposed to make a certain number of ratings every day like a quota.

Our man TestVet is the expert on this matter I think. Maybe he will chime in on this. I think you are right about the stressor being conceded, but with the VA who knows unless you have it in black and white.

When you file a claim you ask for the maximum benefit. If you don't get the maxium benefit that generates a SOC. If you are awarded IU and don't get the Chapter 35 (P&T) benefit you would get a SOC. The VA standard is that when you file any claim you are asking for the maximun benefit available for that disability. The VA seems to forget this in my cases especially where there is some SMC involved like housebound.

What Bergie says.

The exam doctor is ignoring the fact that pain in shoulders can be referred pain from the neck. This just so obvious. What is the exam doctor's alternative explanation as to your cervical pain and shoulder pain? In car wrecks the cervical nearly always gets at least whiplash. I got a nice whiplase that was the result of rear end collision that seemed minor at the time until the next day when I could not rasie my head off the pillow.

I think the fact your C&P lasted about 20 minutes is SOP. I bet you get a rating but what that rating may be in anyone's guess.

I don't like the idea of giving up appeal rights. I had AO presumptive condition. I had to appeal the denial of the secondary conditions. If a vet has DMII, for instance, there may be secondary conditions and disagreement on percentages. If you sign the waiver you give up your appeal rights and have to start from scratch if there is disagreement on rating percentage. Knowing how often the VA lowballs vets I would not give up the right to appeal just to shave a few months of the process. Unless you are dying what is the rush. Presumptive claims go pretty quick as it is in my experience. I have five.

I go to the pain clinic at the VA. Every time I get a new doctor I get new meds. Even if I am satisfied with what I am getting the new doctor always thinks he has the answer. I think that is true of psychiatrists as well. Everyone else who has treated you is wrong and the new guy is right. They also assume the patient does not know what they are talking about. If you like the drug something must be wrong.

The exam doctor says you don't meet the criteria for a PTSD DX. You need to get an IMO to defeat this denial. You don't want to appeal this thing without getting more evidence. What are you basing the PTSD claim on? You know you need a verifiable stressor unless you have combat awards. You need a DX of PTSD and you need to verify the stressor.

One thing about fusions is that you may still have pain even if the fusion is good. Do you have severe pain? Do you have numbness in legs? Not easy to work if you have those conditions. What kinds of pain meds are you on? If you take strong narcotic meds it is hard to work while in a narcotic daze. That is a factor in being IU. Drug side effects are valid reason for helping an IU claim.

Yes, I think it can be the result of a severe strain. If you have good evidence of treatment and DX for a back strain in service and have any evidence of on-going treatment or symptoms then I think you can get SC. Back problems usually get worse with time, so if you hurt your back in service and now it has degenerated into herniation you should be able to get that SC'ed. What you need is a medical statement from a back doctor saying the strain led to the herniations.

I think the doctor is saying to separate the anxiety from the depression would be speculative. This could actually be a good thing. If he would just be guessing about separating the SC condition from the NSC condition then there is doubt and the benefit should go to you. How the VA proposes to separate one MH issue from another is anyone's guess. If a person has suffered from anxiety for years and is now depressed this is just the flip side of anxiety. Pete is right about speculation meaning guesswork. Usually, that is bad news for vets. When the word speculation shows up in a medical report that is not normally what you want to read. The VA rater may twist what the doctor is saying into saying there being a nexus between the depression and SC anxiety is speculative which would be bad. I think you need an IMO to put all the speculation to rest. Were you in combat in RVN? You suffer from an anxiety disorder and PTSD is a form of anxiety disorder. You can get 100% for general anxiety disorder just as easy as depression or any other mental health issue as long as you can show a nexus to service. How long have you been SC?

If you get 100% and you are not P&T that means that you will get called in for another C&P exam at some point. If they ask if you are working and you say "yes" I think the VA is going to re-evaluate your 100% rating. If your disabilites were all of the physical variety then the 100% would probably be ok. Even so you know to get 100% from the VA you have to really be disabled. Maybe Max Cleland can get work as a triple amputee and be 100%, but most of the rest of us are unable to work. If you have 70% for PTSD and get to the 100% mark I think you will always be in danger of being reduced if you are working. If you really must work then I would quit while I was ahead with 90%. This way you never have to lie or hide facts from the VA. I think you were very lucky to get 70% for PTSD and be able to work full time. I would not want to have that rating looked at again if I continue to work. May I ask how old you are? If you are not 100% for a single disability it is very hard to actually get to 100%. I got 70%,60% and five 10% ratings and I only got 90%.

It is hard to get over 50% for a MH issue if you are working. Maybe the VA just thinks that as long as you are working they don't have to pay the 100% which is much more than 90%. I have 90% and IU P&T. Chapter 35 benefits are good. The ChampVA alone is solid gold.

I think the VA would like to give all 100% vets the "electric chair".

The way to write this us is that as a result of long standing PTSD you suffer from depression and insomnia. PTSD is an anxiety disorder. These things all go together. If you can't sleep and feel anxious it is easy to get depressed. What you want to show the VA is that your mental health is worse and you need more than 50%. The usuall difference between a 50% rating for PTSD and a 70%-100% rating is your ability to work. If you can't work due to PTSD then you get a higher rating.

Dan You have to apply for SSD when you apply for OPM under FERS. You don't have to get SSD to get OPM, but you have to apply. This is how I did it since I was a federal employee as well. I went out on OWCP. I also applied for OPM and SSD at that time. I applied for TDIU with the VA at the same time. OPM is easy to get because it pays so little. The SSD is harder to get. If you are rated at least 70% from the VA the TDIU should not be so hard to get. I got SSD first. Then I got OPM and TDIU in that order. It takes about 3-4 months to get the OPM approved. SSD is anybody's guess. TDIU is also uncertain. Do you have long term disability insurance? I would apply for all those things.

I do think their is a quota. It may not be written down but it is understood. There are maybe 3 million disabled vets, but only about 200,000 are 100% or IU. We are the elite of the broken down.

Are you FERS or CSRS?

If your husband served in combat and got honorable discharge for a full period of service I think the schizoaffective disorder DX is suspect. He probably needs a private doctor to rebutt the VA's contention that PTSD is a minor % of his total disability. Was he ever treated for any mental health condition in the service? I think it is impossible to separate out MH disorders if there is a stressor like combat service. This stress could be the ultimate trigger for any MH condition. Probably many vets got medical discharges for MH conditions before PTSD was even recognized. When soldiers have complete nervous breakdowns due to acute combat fatigue what are the residuals of that in later life? No one knows.

I have a problem with snoring ( my wife has the problem). How do you know if you have sleep apnea. I snore and grind my teeth but not all the time. Some medications like klonopin and valium make it worse and that is for sure. I do have deviated septum. How do I get the VA to do sleep study? Is it worth the effort? I don't want to make a claim, but just get treatment if there is any.

Durock No special compensation for us Vietnam vets who did not retire from the military. I think we should get something for being poisoned by AO. Under current rules most of will die from an AO related condition. Either heart or cancer is going to get you. If they add stroke and a few more things there will be 100% chance of us dying from AO. Of course, by the time this happens there will only be 10 Vietnam vets left alive. The average age of RVN vets has got to be at least 60 years. That gives us about 20 more years to get all AO possible presumptives to get the OK. Ultimately, you can go to your grave knowing the US government and DOW killed you.