john999

I think with the amount of time and the problems you have you should get a lawyer. I would do as Pete suggests and try to get IU or 100% now and then you can fight the CUE battle. This is exactly what I am doing now. You have to have an income while you wait for the CUE to be batted back and forth through the system.

I only succeeded via IMO's. The VA ignored the fact I was on SSD and only awarded 30%. With good IMO's I got 70% and then IU.

I would forget about DAV and get me a lawyer. Those DAV types are not capable of doing CUE claims. You need some expert legal help in my opinion. I think the lawyer could shake something up and I would watch the appeal dates.

The more letters you can generate that describe personality change the better. I think you have an uphill battle since there is no proof of anything actually happening. How long has it been since the incident and since discharge?

I filed for a MH condition within one year of discharge. My effective date was the day after I was discharged. That is how it works, and that is why you want to make your claims within a year after discharge. You might not win your claim for five years but it goes back to day after discharge.

I think you should get your own medical opinion. A GAF that ranges from 51-60 is ranging from serious symptoms to moderate sysmptoms. How badly does your PTSD affect your ability to work and have social contacts? This is what really matters and not a GAF score. Are you on medications? I think you need to get copies of your SMR's and get a private shrink to review them. When you talk to your own doctor you need to describe your worst symptoms. You can get a format for how a IMO should look from Hadit. I was on SSD and the VA only gave me 30% at one point. If you are working you should try for at least 50%. Ability to work is a big factor in PTSD or any other MH rating. If you get your IMO pretty quick you could ask for a "reconsideration" based on new evidence. You know your symptoms are what really make the difference in a rating. The difference between a 50% rating and a 70-100% rating is usually the ability to work. If you can't keep employment then 30% is way too low. This may take some time but I would bet that you can get a higher rating with new evidence and/or an appeal. Whatever you do don't give up with a 30% rating.

What is the regulation that says your effective date for a claim is the first time you saw a doctor for it? I had not heard that before.

That's called "Ablation therapy". It did not work for me. I got it in my neck. If it works that's great. Think long and hard before you let them cut into your body. Often the operation is a success, but your pain will still be there.

I went to the VA dentist once and he was supposed to do a filling. He stopped and said that he could not do the procedure because I had a history of strokes. This was not true. Yes, the VA had mixed my records up with another vet. These kinds of errors could be fatal in another situation.

I had nerve block injections to my lower back. I got almost no relief. It is a money maker for pain management doctors. The medical literature says that there is no proof these injections do anyone any long term good except the doctor's bank account.

Have you had any surgical treatments for the PF. These treatments are the things that will cause you to become IU.

Get a lawer. Non of those VSO types have the brains to help you. CUE must be on a final and unappealed decision.

If I win 100% back to 1971 I will be glad to pay the lawyer.

The thing is that it may be the fact you had a lawyer that the VA caved. They knew you were well represented. I also am going to end up giving a chunk of money to a lawyer, but if I win it will be worth it. Consider that you not only have this retro,but 100% into the future.

If you are getting DIC now it won't matter. If you are not getting DIC then I think it does matter.

The problem will boil down to having verifiable stressor I think. Who knows since maybe the VARO will accept what the C&P doctor says and go with it?

If you have a current VBM you will know more than most doing claims at the VA. If you can steer vets in a direction where they do not make gross mistakes and suffer a loss of years in retro that would be a great service.

Really, you are fililng for an increase. You don't need any form for the IHD. Anything beyond the original claim is an increase. If you have IHD and boots on the ground in Vietnam all you need is a letter asking to be SC'ed. If you have a DX of IHD in your VA medical records this should be a done deal. You might include copies of some of the DX records, but you should point out that this is all in your VA medical records located at your VAMC. I would use the Statement in Support of Claim as the cover letter and attatch all the rest to that. I think I would walk it over to the VARO and get it all date stamped if possible.

I am not sure you want to call attention to a DUI as a reason for being TDIU. If you have PTSD or any other MH condition try and separate that out from alcohol or drug abuse. The VA denied my IU the first time saying I was unable to work due to opiate addiction. This was not true, but it delayed my IU by almost a year. I know substance abuse is common to many MH issues, but when it comes to working what I would want to share with the VA is the facts of my symptoms that make it impossible to work other than substance abuse. It is in your records, but focus on the emotional illness. The VA does not consider alcoholism as a compensable mental health disease, nor drug abuse. The consequences (non-functioning liver) could be SC'ed. You have to draw it all back to the compensable mental health issue and show that symptoms are due to the PTSD, depression or whatever else. I just think you don't want the VA to have a string to pull on to blame all your problems on alcoholism.

I got SSD before IU. The standards for SSD are that you are totally disabled from all work for at least one year. You can't even get paid for 6 months after filing. It is a much more efficient system of evidence and appeals than the VA, but the standards are more harsh than for IU. That is why there is a cottage industry surrounding SSD judges and lawyers. Probably 75% of those who get SSD get a lawyer. With VA probably 1-2% get lawyers to get IU. Vets get VSO's and we know what they are often worth.

I think as Bergie has said that is about as serious as it gets. The fusion is a big deal and any complications are an even bigger deal. Damage to spinal cord would be a horrendous big deal.

Mags I am thinking if he has new evidence of increased disability or new evidence that he is service connected then he can reopen the claim. Since he did not keep his claim on continuous appeal he has lost his earlier effective date for an increase or for service connection. This is how I understand it, and this is why you never want to drop your appeals. The VA can deny you over and over, but if your appeals are active you can get the EED when you finally win if you win. Most claims are won eventually if there is any evidence. The only other way to do it is to file a CUE, but this is the hard way. Is he filing for an increase or for orginal service connection?

I know the doctors and claims examiners never read deeply into the files because they ask the same questions that have been answered time and again in the file. To think that some claims examiner is going to read a file that is forty years old is beyond imagination. Like TestVet says, they read from the last decision. The C&P doctors do the same thing if they even do that much. Many just wing it. If you have been going to the VAMC for ten years you have a mass of medical records. There is no way the PCP will read this stuff considering they have 20-30 minutes with you every 6 months. Actually, that is more time than your private internist will give you. I had a Russian female doctor for a while. She was great. Anything I wanted I got. That is the kind of government doctor I want.

I think vets who appeal and continue to appeal win in the end. Most give up I think. You need to appeal and then modify your appeals based on new evidence to rebutt VA reasons for denial. I have won on almost all my claims but it did take years of appeals. If you have decent evidence you can win, but you have to keep at it.

If the vet is in his 70's and needs a job that is a difficult position to be in for even a healthy person. I would say some kind of computer training to do a simple date entry job would be a possibility.