john999

If you have a condition that could kill you then it is probably best to get it SC'ed if you can. For instance, DMII should be SC'ed if you have it due to AO because it has so many potentially fatal complications. If it is a AO thing then it is presumptive anyway. Any sort of cancer should be SC'ed if you can do it.

Bob I have done reconsiderations and NOD's and I am not really sure which is quicker. I think the VA just treats them almost the same. If you have good evidence you will probably win your claim. The thing I have found most useful is to speak to someone who is actually going to rate your claim be that a DRO or just a claims examiner. Whatever gets you in front of a real person to explain your claim is what has worked for me. I don't think reconsideration is a magic bullet. The only magic bullet is evidence and patience.

Klonopin is one of the better drugs. It is harder to get adddicted. It stays in your system longer. It is a pretty good muscle relaxant. No bizzare side effects except when I take it I sometimes grind my teeth at night. I notice my jaw aches in the morning after I take Klonopin. I wear a night guard for my teeth. I hate to say, but xanax is highly addictive because the more fast acting the drug is and the shorter the life of the drug the more addictive. The most unpredictable side effects of any drug I ever took was Ambien. It can give you real amnesia. It just wipes your mind clean.

I would advise to get an outside opinion to back your claim for depression secondary to chronic pain. This way with your progress notes you really have the weight of benefit of doubt. Are you taking narcotic meds for pain? This alone can cause depression. Do you have private insurance?

As long as you have good evidence your claim can be fixed. It is just getting someone to look at it and read it. I would look at my C-File and find out what is happening. You probably have to write a letter to your RO to see your file. Where has it been since August? That is five months ago.

Happy Birthday!

In the 2006 VBM the connection between artery disease and cataracts and DMII was stated as being strong, but not presumptive anymore. There was a change in the Regs. The M-21 still says it is presumptive. Knowing the VA I would bet you still need a doctor's opinion to connect these secondary conditions to DMII. Getting the medical opinions would save years of arguing with the VA over presumption. I got a secondary connection between artery disease and DMII based on a medical opinion from my VA PCP. Now I have cataracts. I am just waiting for my CUE claim to be decided.

Purple Standards for enlistment for the Army and Marines are a little different than the AF, especially when there is a shooting war going on like Vietnam. When the military needs bodies for the combat arms the rule book gets thrown out the window.

When I was working on my TDIU claim the VA came up with the same BS about not having a copy of my DD214. I have been SC'ed for 38 years. Of course, there was a DD214 in my C-File,but those lazy &%^^&^% did not look in the file. They would rather hold up my claim for six months to ask St. Louis. I had a couple of certified copies of my DD214 and I took it to the VARO, and put it in their hands. They then said they had no proof of my last day at work, and I got a copy of my retirement date paperwork from the federal government and gave it to them. If they had had to request this stuff though channels it would have added 6 months to a year to my wait. It was absurd because they had my SSD award letter which gave the last day of my employment. The VA claims workers are just lazy and incompetent. They would rather screw a vet than open his file and look inside.

Enclosure (3) reminds me of the logic the VA used when they denied me TDIU based on the fact that I was unemployed.

Phoenix The statement you sent the VA about new evidence may be viewed by the VA as a NOD. Unless you typed in bold letters "REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION" you may get a SOC back with your appeal rights. The debate about which takes longer a reconsideration or a NOD/DRO APPEAl is short of iffy. The NOD protects your appeal rights. I believe from what we have discussed here on Hadit that even if you submit a reconsideration request you need to keep track of you NOD one year time limit to appeal.

Pete This might be the basis of a higher level of A&A! Heh, heh, it all adds up. My nurse at the VA said I needed a cane. I told her I fell down a few times. Being screwed up translates into money in VA methodology.

Pete This might be the basis of a higher level of A&A! Heh, heh, it all adds up. My nurse at the VA said I needed a cane. I told her I fell down a few times. Being screwed up translates into money in VA methodology.

I have read in the VBM that if a VA social worker notes evidence that a veteran may be unemployable due to a SC condition that is enough for an inferred claim of IU. So VA workers other than PH.D's and MD's do have weight to their opinions. If you have a emotional problem and you want compensation increases you need to show that you are getting treatment somewhere. It does not have to be the VA. The VA assumes that if you have a serious medical issue you will be in treatment for that problem. If you have a mental issue they assume that you will getting treatment and probably medications. If you are not doing these things even for good reasons the VA looks with suspicion on your claim. If you have chronic pain, or emotional problems they assume you would be seeking treatment, or if you are not your condition can't be that bad. I did not seek treatment from the VA for 20 years, but I was in treatment from a private doctor for those 20 years until I finally started to go to the VA. If you stop treatment then they assume you may be better, so stay in treatment.

You need a medical opinion even for secondary conditions related to a presumptive illness or injury like agent orange. I was SC'ed for DMII due to AO exposure. I have secondary conditions from the DMII. I had to get medical opinions to get secondary service connection for every and all these conditions which is a pain in the ass. Even when you state or claim the obvious secondary connection you need a medical opinion to make the nexus. I had medical opinions from the VA's own doctors and I still had a battle on some issues.

Rosy You have two things to overcome: No in-service diagnosis of schizophrenia or any other mental illness and you did not file a claim within one year of discharge for a mental illness. I think if your shrink can develope the suicide issue that you can win this claim. But the VA is going to throw the issues I mentioned in your face. I have been through this process myself.

The VA says the record states you denied all symptoms of mental illness in the navy. Did you deny a threat of suicide? That is a major symptom of mental illness in most reasonable minds.

In my RO once a vet gets to the DRO (if he/she does not go to the BVA) and has his review or hearing it was pretty quick getting a decision. My latest DRO Hearing is really dragging out (6 months). Once it gets out of the RO on appeal just pray. No one knows how long it will take, and it can easily get caught up in the RO/BVA/Remand cycle for years. You could have your claim remanded back to the RO get another crummy decision, and start the appeal process all over, and you may never live to see it end. I was in that cycle for years before I got really serious and paid for some IMO's that broke the cycle. That is why many believe that getting it done at the RO is best. Just keep it there until you get what you want. It can be done by submitting new evidence everytime you get an SOC or decision. The drawback to submitting new evidence is that the VA may make your effective date based on the new evidence. But the thing is to win in your life time, and get the money rolling in while you are still breathing. Why it takes a DRO six months to make a decision after a hearing I cannot fathom. The evidence is all there. All they have to do is look at it. That defeats the reason for a hearing. You get the hearing to see the DRO face to face so he can remember you. After 6 months he probably does not remember a thing about you. I think the amount of the award is a big factor. The bigger the award the slower the rating.

The Army has been doing this since Vietnam at least. Since there was no PTSD diangosis then anyone who began to have problems after returning from Vietnam would be kicked out for misconduct, or for inability to adapt. It was so easy for the Army to do this since the emotionally ill vet was bound to get into some kind of trouble. Then the Article 15's mount up, and before you know it you are on the curb. I am not surprised that knuckle heads in the higher command would disregard regulations and continue to discharge sick vets for misconduct. This is just how they think.

Chuck75 The court saying that a VA SC condition cannot be shown to have aggravated a NSC condition is a way for a vet to get compensation flies in the face of federal department of labor rules that say a work related injury can be shown to be the cause of a non work related injury. That is inconsistent since both laws involved the federal government. It is obvious that if you have a SC bad knee and that knee causes you to fall down and hurt the other knee that there is a connection between the two events. If not for the SC knee the NSC knee would never have been injured. It is not logical to say there is no connection and should be no way for a vet to be compensated. I am not saying your post is wrong, but I am saying it does not make sense for the court to say what it said.

TankerJo I have been in a padded cell. Not that bad actually. Alex the lawyer said one way to get a sure rating for PTSD was to show up for your C&P with a baseball bat. I don't know if he was kidding or not. Never be afraid to just let it all hang out at these exams. You have to wait like everyone is saying to get a copy to see where you are with this doctor. No matter what he says you can always get your own opinion from your doctor of choice to refute him. Actually, you should wait for the decision to see exactly how to attack it. You want to get your doctor to attack the Reasons and Basis part where they say why your were denied or low balled if that happens. Don't jump the gun. This thing is a game. The ball is in the VA's court and then after the decision it is back in yours. It is a legal struggle and not about your health or care. It is about money.

In your NOD you might ask for a DRO Hearing.

How about this case: The VA has evidence in the record that the veteran is IU, and incapcitated due to his SC condition and never addresses this issue at all. They don't reject IU. They don't even condider it. I believe the VBM says this is an inferred claim for IU and not considering it is a CUE.

All those questions about your childhood means he was fishing for a personality disorder diagnosis.

Bern You want a DRO Hearing. I just wonder after two years how much longer asking for a hearing will take. 2 years for a DRO means you could have gone to the BVA by now. That is what the DRO Review or Hearing is supposed to avoid. There is something wrong with the way they are doing your claim in my opinion. Check the shredder.