john999

In no way do I think my CUE is a slam/dunk. Since we maintain that my CUE happened in 1973 I don't know if Bell would apply since it involves evidence in the file after 1992. My evidence was clearly in the record since it was stamped "received and dated" in 1972 which was almost a year before the actual decision. If you look at the decision it is obvious that my doctor's report is no part of that decision. In the record does not mean before the adjudicator unless there is that assumption before 1992. I don't know how the VA can just cherry pick which evidence they are going to consider and which they disregard or ignore? If they were allowed to do this there would never be a point of getting an IMO because they could just choose to ignore it without ever listing or noting it in the decision. My lawyer also says that if the VA did somehow use my doctor's evidence in the decision then they misapplied the regulations for rating a disability.

Bill You have to file a claim for PTSD. Once you do that you will probably get a C&P exam. You only get a C&P if you are filing a new claim or a claim for an increase. C&P is part of the claim process.

VA sends my percoset and morphine by certified mail. I used to work for the USPS. Certified mail is handled just like ordinary mail except someone has to sign for it when, and if it ever gets delivered. I am sure the mailman knows what is in my envelope that comes once a month. The only mail that is really secure is registered mail. The VA would never use that because it is very expensive, and it has to be locked in a safe every night. My meds by mail has been pretty good. I am sure it varies by VAMC. You have good VARO's and you have horrible VARO's. That is what is wonderful about the VA. It is like a crap game. They play games and treat us like crap.

This is not to mention the many guys who on "secret missions" in Vietnam. Their missions are so secret there is no record at all of their heroic exploits. I heard that one before and there are ways to check these fakers out online.

As Gerr has said the VA will latch onto anything not service connected to deny a IU claim. You don't want to give them records that contain NSC issues.

The NOD clock is still ticking regardless of the reconsideration.

The big factor in going from 50% to 70% and beyond for a PTSD claim is "can you work". That is always the main factor in mental claims. If you can't work due to your PTSD you should get at least 70% and IU. Basically, as I see it the only difference between a mental health claim that gets 50% and 70% is the ability to work. If you get a rating of 50% that is good because the day you can no longer work you are in a good position to file a TDIU claim. I was 30% up to the day I had to retire on disability from my job. I filed for SSD and IU. I got medical reports and got the ducks in a row. It still took me over a year to get IU but the SSD came in three months. If you look at the criteria for 70% PTSD you know that person has a very hard time working or even getting along socially.

I don't think the registry and the C&P exams have anything to do with each other. If they find something in your AO exam you still have to make a claim for it. If they do find something that is presumptive for AO it can only help you.

I could have really used a high disability rating when I was young enough to go to college and try and rehabilitate myself. Knowing the VA of the old days as soon as I showed a sign of life they would have reduced me back to poverty level rating like $28 dollars a month for 10% disability. A 100% rating in 1973 was only about $600 dollars, but that would pay rent and a car payment and food probably. The VA never seems to miss an opportunity to kick a vet in the yarbels. Today's G.I. Bill is not enough to pay for tuition, books and living expense. There are no jobs so what does the vet do? You need to work at least part time. The 100% vet is better off moneywise just to never even attempt to rehab himself. That is preverse.

Yes, you can merge them. It is an individual case so I don't know if anyone else wants to read it. I think a vet does have an edge if he/she has a good lawyer. It is just having another set of eyes on your claim from a person who is not emotionally involved. I think I was treated like a dog by both the army and the VA, so my perspective is somewhat jaded. I was a sick person who was tossed out of the army. Then the VA low balled me. Both the army and VA called me names and slandered me. I have anger towards them. Anger does you no good when trying to put a claim together. The army said I was an anti-social personality because they did not want to pay a pension. The VA gave me a token rating because they could not avoid some sort of rating due to the records. This would give anyone heartburn. There were thousands like me.

I would get the doctors to accept assignment of my ChampVA. Their is very cheap supplemental insurance out there for ChampVA. You want a doctor who will accept assignment for all your insurance. My wife's doctors and the hospital accepted assignment for ChampVA because it is secondary. We did not spend a penny out of pocket and she was in the hospital for a week. I my family plan for BC keeps going up I will drop it and get the supplement that Larry speaks of and save some money. I like the BC because I never get any static about doctors taking it on assignment.I have medicare and Blue Cross and I don't pay a dime except in premiums.

Carlie Yes, and Yes. You got the substance of my CUE just right.

My lawyer says it is very common for the military not to send all your records to St. Louis. If you get a incomplete military record you have to start turning over rocks. The people who handle such records are lazy and don't give a rat's ass about some vet trying to get records. 6 months of psychiatric records are missing from my military records. I can't find them either. Now that it has been forty years I bet they got shredded. I wrote the base where I had treatment and they said the records were in St. Louis. St. Louis said they don't have them. Did they just go up in smoke? Maybe.

Carlie My judge was a black guy and it happened so fast I don't even remember his name. He was doing an assembly line with many claims one after the other. He was not friendly or unfriendly. I did not even need to be there really. It was all in the brief and in the records. The issue was cut and dried. Did they or did they not consider my doctor's evidence? Either way they made an error according to my lawyer. I will ask him about the transcipt. He did ask for a "complete" copy of my file.

Jerr If I was going for a CUE claim with a DAV VSO I would just blow my brains out. My lawyer does understand CUE. Please don't go in there with a DAV rep. Get a lawyer. If there is serious money involved hire an attorney that does VA law. Is your DAV rep going to write a brief? That is what is needed. Don't wing it. John

Carlie My lawyer is optimistic about how the hearing turned out, but the judge gave nothing away. It only lasted a few minutes on the record. Now I have to wait and hope my file does not go into the shredder. The lawyer did a brief that explained our whole case, so it was just the three of us sitting there for a few minutes while I answered a few questions. What is creepy is that the judge asked no questions. Is that good or bad I don't know? Now I feel tired and worn out from waiting around at the VA. You wait a year for a hearing and it lasts 20 minutes. If we win hooray. If we lose Boo Hoo. It was worth a shot. John

I had my CUE with a BVA member today. My lawyer and I had to wait an hour and a half past the 8:30 am appointment time. The first thing I noticed when we went into the hearing was the fact that the board member had my C-File which was three times as large as the one the VARO supplied me and my lawyer with before the hearing. How do we get a fair hearing if we don't have the same evidence as the BVA has in their possession? My lawyer presented his brief and asked me a few questions on the record. The board member did not ask me one question. The hearing took about 20 minutes. My lawyer's contention was that if the VA had considered my doctor's report in 1973 I would be entitled to 100%, so that was an error. If they did not consider it that would also be an error because the evidence from my doctor was clearly crucial evidence that would have resulted in a 100% rating if it was considered. We also brought up the fact that I did not get appeal rights or any sort of C&P exam in 1973. There was nothing in my file that would indicate I ever was given appeal rights after my original decision. However, since we don't have the same evidence as the VA has who knows after 40 years? My C-File was a complete mess and the judge could not find anything. My rating was two pages long with no reasons or basis for the rating I got which was 10% when my doctor had clearly indicated I could not work, and was incapcitated at the time of his exam. My doctor's report was the only evidence in the file that considered any of the rating criteria for a mental disorder. The VA had nothign but some army medical records and a hospital report that just discussed in general terms my condition. The main issue was not that the evidence was not weighed correctly, but that crucial evidence was excluded that if it had been weighed would have resulted in a 100% schedular rating. The board member was ready to tell us that we did not understand CUE, but after reading the brief he said we did understand it. My lawyer said if we don't win this CUE he won't do them anymore because if he can't win a case like mine he does not believe he can win any CUE claim. I know there are some here who have won CUE's on their own, but if you are going to the BVA with a CUE my advise is to get a lawyer. My lawyer does SSD claims. He says the VA is a complete mess compared to SSD. If I win the CUE it will be because I got lucky. That is my opinion. Never in my life would I pin desparate hopes on a CUE. All they have to do is slam the door in your face no matter how obvious the injustice. It is obvious to me and my lawyer that I got screwed, but will it be obvious to the BVA? Will they simply say to themselevs "No way in hell are we going to pay this old vet 100% retro back to 1971". What gripes me the most is the fact the VA did not supply us with a complete copy of my C-File. In any legal case both sides are supposed to have access to the same evidence. Although the CUE only is a tiny part of the file I don't know if I got all the evidence the VA had in their possession when they made the rating. This is unfair at the most basic level. We have no way of knowing if the VA will "find" some evidence that will blow my claim out of the water. I am lucky the whole thing did not go into the shredder. I do not think there is any organization as &*&&^%$ up as the VA.

I got my CUE hearing Wednesday in front of a BVA member. Even if I win the CUE it has to go back to the VARO for the actual rating. My fear is that since my CUE involves so much potential retro the VA is going to stall this thing for years. My lawyer has three theories for my CUE. First, evidence was excluded. Second the rating schedule was not applied correctly. Third, the C-file was tampered with. I don't know about number three. The lawyer seems to think the VARO choaked on the award and changed facts in the C-File.

You know if you are rated 100% for a psychotic condition if you recover enough so that you are not psychotic the VA might reduce you to 70%. The thing is they should consider you for IU if you are not working due to the mental disorder even if you are not 100% schedular anymore. I personally think anyone who can't work and support themselves due to a service connected disability should be 100% period. The difference between a emotionally ill person living on the street, or an institution, and one not on the street is the ability to work.

Oldman How many opinions have you gotten from doctors on the need for a fusion. I know that it is not minor surgery. I think it is a last resort type of surgery. Also, the surgery may be successful, but you continue to have serious pain. Have you tried every other option? My back doctor discussed it with me. I decided that as long as I could walk I would not have it done. I hate the idea of being on dope for the rest of my life, but at present I can walk and I do have some hours of the day when I am not in persistent pain. That is only due to taking percoset 4 times a day.

You know you can't be sure of anything with the VA until you have a decision right in your hand. Even then you need to read it ten times to make sure you understand every fine point.

There is no Nexus Statement in your Gulf War registry. It identifies various problems, but does not attribute them to Gulf War factors. Twenty years from now all your conditions may be presumptive for Gulf War. That is how it has worked to some extent with Agent Orange. You are going to need medical evidence linking your problems with the Gulf War. However, I would claim everything now because like I say 20 years from now they may be presumptive and you can go back and possibly get them SC'ed for an earlier effective date. A Vietnam vet who claimed DMII as being connected to AO before it became presumptive has a claim for an EED. Something not so funny is that the older an army gets the more presumptive conditions are identified. The VA is waiting for that army to die. Agent orange is now presumptive for most heart disease. How many Vietnam vets do you think died while the VA waited?

Jerr If a vet gets a rating decision he/she can ask for a reconsideration, or do a NOD. If the VA corrected themselves in your case in a month you must have asked them to reconsider their decision in so many words. There are only so many ways to deal with a rating decision. The VA does not just self-correct on their own unless they call a CUE on themselves. Joe could ask the VA to reconsider their decision, but he needs to be very sure they know he is asking for a reconsideration and not a NOD. While all this is happening the NOD clock is ticking.

Joe Do you have a private psychiatrist? You should get a medical opinion that your PTSD is worse. Don't just go for another C&P exam. Medical evidence is what you need for a higher rating. File your appeal and begin getting all the evidence you can get to present to the DRO. Are you working? Your work status is a big factor is getting a higher rating for PTSD. 50% is probably as high as you will get if you are still working.

How about the EM clubs in Vietnam. They poured out the alcohol to anyone who walked in the door. US law in 1969 said you could not drink until you were 21. The Army served alcohol to us 19 year olds until we were so drunk we could not walk. If you were at some big military base you could get drunk every night of the week as long as you showed up for work. The military smiled on alcoholism, but tried to smash the guy who smoked a joint. The military was full of drunks back in the day. The army condoned drinking alcohol, and yet they punish those who become alcoholics. Drugs poured onto American bases during the last days of the Vietnam war. I see it as an environmental hazard like AO. I remember people telling me the white powder in the little bottles was "coke" and harmless fun. That was until a guy from Philly told me it was heroin. I knew many junkies in Vietnam who never even got close to hard drugs in the World. Many of those poor guys got stuck with undesireable discharges because they failed a piss test. Nobody tested for the alcohol that was embalming the senior NCO's and officers.