john999

Did you file your claim for compensation within one year of discharge? That would make it easier. You have to get the back SC'ed first. Once you get that SC'ed then your secondary conditions will be considered. That is just how the VA works. Did you have any psychiatric problems in service? What kind of discharge did you get?

You know there are no medical studies funded by the VA to determine the affects of agent orange. The VA uses other people's studies to make determinations about which diseases are presumptive for AO. The VA is completely passive in its examination of agent orange science. They are quietly waiting for an army to die. The VA has never funded research into the affects of AO on the children and grandchildren of vets. Do children of AO vets have medical problems? Don't ask the VA because they are not funding studies to find out. If the IOM finds out twenty years from now that the children of AO vets are dying younger than their peers maybe the VA will look into that research. Of course it will be too late.

Chronic pain disorder and depression are common to people who have back problems. If you have to take nacotic pain meds and are restricted in activities due to pain it is easy to become depressed. These things go hand-in-hand with any major disability. If you have major back pain you probably have sleep difficulties. This will also contribute to depression. You just have to have a doctor connect all these conditions to your service connected disability. You can't separate the mind and body. Physical illness affects the mind, and mental illness affects the body. The medical community knows this even if the VA pretends it is not so to save a buck. With the VA it is always about money. Money before science. Money before the welfare of vets, and money before the spouses and dependents of vets.

I think I would send them an Iris about once every two weeks to see what progress is being made on your C-File request. I don't think I would call my congressman. It does no good and usually slows it down even more. Don't wait too long for the C-File if you are getting close to some appeal deadline. After you file an NOD it takes probably over a year to get a DRO hearing and a couple of years to get to the BVA. The NOD is the most important thing if you are appealing. No NOD within one year of the decision and you are dead.

I was granted 70% SC and was on SSD and the VA denied my TDIU the first time. Don't give up. If you are 80% and can't work due to your SC problems you will get TDIU if you work at it. Are you getting SSD? I would apply for it if I don't have it based on my SC disabilites. When the VA grants TDIU they know you will never work again. They also know that you will get P&T one day. This is going to cost them. They try and wriggle out of it.

I have heard that when you have an active claim the VA creates a temporary file for that particular claim. When it is done it goes into your C-File and is stored. It is a scary thought that the VA has your original C-File and it could go up in smoke for all we know. Are C-Files in Florida stored in a hurricane proof, water proof, fire proof vault? I doubt it. You know the St. Petersburg VARO is very close to the water. In a big storm it would probably be underwater. Do you think when hurricane warnings for a Category Five storm are up for the west coast of Florida the VA employees worry about our files?

I think my old decision says "nervous condition" as well. It gives a DX as well besides nervous condition. I have to drag it out and look at it. I remember when I got a job with the post office I had to show them I was a 10 point eligible vet. I had a letter from the VA that said I was SC'ed for a Nervous Condition. The guy at the post office personnel office said "you don't look nervous". What could I say? Am I Barney Fife or something. I mean the more you look into these old decisions the more you can find that is wrong. I am glad Berta in on the ball.

When you request your C-File they are supposed to send it all. I have been to the VA and seen my file. It is large. If there is something in your file that you want you can get them to copy it on the spot of you. This way you know exactly what you are getting. I mean if you had a question on a rating you can get everything the VA has on the decision.

If you get your C-File and find an old decision in which there is no record that you ever received your appeal rights I wonder what kind of error that might be. In most legal proceedings that is a fatal error not to inform a claimant that they have appeal rights. Really old decisions from the VA that are in your c-file are so incomplete that I think they all deserve a second look. Your C-File is not stored electronically. It is paper. Paper gets lost over 40 years. If the record is lost how can they reconstruct it? As far as I know if all particulars of a decision are not in your C-File they do not exist, especially for old decisions.

I think you need a DX besides nervous condition. Perhaps there is something in your SMR's that shows a DX. About gettting a CUE retro back to the 1970's I would look into it.

What part is old VA lingo? I am talking about the DAV which is a service organization. I am saying that the DAV seems to finally be taking aim at the VBA after sucking up to them for 40 years. I know the DVA is full of it. They need a ton of lead dropped on their heads. The DAV is moving their guns in the direction of the VBA because they feel that they have a sympathtic congress. They also feel threatened by laws allowing lawyers to get involved in claims at the VARO. This is lighting a fire under their asses, and I hope it is hot. Since the DAV and friends got advanced funding for VA health care into law they feel they are on a roll.

I got the DAV magazine today. They seem to finally get it that the claims process is a disaster. They are afraid of any radical change in the claims process since that would leave them high and dry. However, they want faster claims service that sort of retools the broken system we have now. Too bad they are about 40 years too late to help me.

C&P letters come from the VARO, so they can still screw it up. The same thing has happened to me over the years with the VA not telling me about Exams and then blaming me for not showing up. It has happened to me twice.

If you have decent medical insurance I would try and get DX'ed by a private shrink for PTSD and then file a claim. Stay in treatment at the VA, but if the group therapy is going to be a burden tell them you can't afford to take off work once a week to do it. As has been said you need a DX of PTSD and verification of an in-service stressor. Did you get combat awards? The VA doctors can say you have PTSD but you have to show that it is linked to your service.

Don't drop it just because it was a final decision. It could contain a CUE. It has to be final to do the CUE. You might run it by a vet lawyer and have him look at it to see if it does contain a legal error. It would be worth whatever you spend to have the decision reviewed by someone who knows what to look for. I took what I thought might be a CUE in my original decision to a lawyer and now we are proceeding to try and get about 30 years of retro. I thought it was a CUE ,but the lawyer was sure. Don't give up on big retro.

The VBM is really a book written by advocates for advocates. My lawyer refers to it. It is full of case law and precedents. Your local VARO would not even understand the concept. It is not just a book of regulations, but of arguments made by legal professionals. It is not the CFR.

You can be admitted against your will in Florida under the Baker Act. You have to go before a judge to get out. You get Baker Acted if the cops or a doctor believes you are an immediate threat to yourself or others. People who attempt suicide get Baker Acted. People who kill or try to kill other people get thrown in jail until a judge makes a decision on their mental status. Then they might go to a state institution for the criminallly insane. Just let you mind wonder on what that is like....murders and child rapists on massive doses of anti-psychotic meds. No VA hospital will take really dangerous people. If you were to tell your VA doctor that when you get home you are going to load your shotgun and kill your neighbor then you probably would get committed against your will. If you try and shoot your neighbor and the cops stop you before you do it, and you are obviously insane you might be put in a nuthouse rather than jail, but probably it would be off to the county jail in my state.

The VA granted me IU based on the last day I actually worked at the Post Office. I was on the post office employment rolls for a longer period but I did not work. I was on unpaid leave.

If you are smart and can afford it get yourself a private podiatrist who can write you a medical opinion if needs be. You don't want to depend on the VA for disability ratings. I know it is expensive for those without insurance, but I never would have gotten a decent rating just using the VA.

Bronco You can buy used editions of the VBM. Most of the info is the same. Information I got from the VBM led directly to my being sc'ed for CAD. I was reading about secondary conditions of DMII and the VBM had information that put me in a position to file a claim.

There is a process within the VA that starts with the patient advocate. It does not end with the advocate. You can appeal any medical decision regarding your care to the head of the medical department. It is a formal complaint process. The job of the advocate is to short wire that process.

Boondoc When you were denied in 1996 did the decision become final? If so you would have to file a CUE. That you might need help with since it revolves around legal issues. If the claim was in the appeals process since 1996 then maybe you could get EED. I would go for it. I think the worst thing the VA will do is deny the EED. You need to make up your own mind about this. You have to deal with the consequences if there are any so you be the judge.

Part of an IU claim is the part when you have to tell the VA the last day you worked. If you file for IU and then go to work in the meantime that is going to casue a problem. When I got IU I had to submit a document from my employer stating the last day I was in a work status. I got disability retirement so I had the exact paperwork they needed. I don't know how carefully they check this, but if they find you have lied to them your ass is grass. I really agree with TestVet. If you get IU why would you want to put it at risk. It often takes years to get it. I would love to be able to go back to work and earn a good living. Since that is not going to happen I have to live with IU. Without IU I would be hurting just like all of us who get 100%.

The VBM has a section of this subject. I believe if you are over 55 and have been 100% for at least 5 years the VA cannot just use one exam to reduce you. They have to consider the entire record and find very solid evidence you are better.

Maybe consult with a bankrupcy lawyer to get out of the 20,000 debt. There are ways to beat down a debt. If you don't have enough money to live you cannot pay such a debt. What are the consequences of just not paying this debt? If you go to work and VA finds out you may lose your IU and HB. You will have to fight to get it back. You think you have trouble now! Does your wife have ChampVA?