john999

The economic meltdown is the only good thing the Army has going for it. During the Great Depression people went in the Army just for three hots and a cot.

I think the VA is just trying their best to not pay for PTSD claims if there is any way they can get out of it. They see the tidal wave coming at them, and they are bailing as fast as they can which means automatic denials. They know some will just give up, some will fight and lose and some will win. Anything to save a buck! Persistence and evidence will win the claims game. What is a crime is that vets have to go through the washer/dryer cycle to get their compensation. The stressor verification gambit is really a crock. It should be presumptive for anyone who was in a combat zone. If you were in a combat zone and have PTSD it should be presumptive. Yes, some will fake it, but most with real PTSD will benefit. The VA now punishes all vets for the sins of a few.

Things like this have been going on for years. How many dead vets have been resurrected so that some VA employee can collect a check?

We should take a page from the NRA's handbook on how to influence politicians. The NRA gets action on their issues. I am surprised they have not been able to put an automatic weapon in the hand of every American. I bet Obama is an NRA member.

You can probably do it yourself but don't trust any VSO to file your paperwork for you. Really, evidence is what wins claims.

I believe that you can get both VA and unemployment insurance at the same time without any offset. Now if you were asking for TDIU and also getting unemployment then there would be a contradiction.

ST Pete is horrible. Why don't you hire a lawyer instead of depending on those idiots at the DAV or AL. St. Pete VARO is a black hole. These people won't really lift a finger for you. You are going to end up doing the whole claim yourself.

These are all delaying tactics, but you have to jump through the hoops. I mean if they can keep you waiting long enough you might die. They tried all kinds of tricks when I was close to getting TDIU. I had been SC'ed for 30 years, and they suddenly discovered they did not have my DD214. Then they wanted my SSD records via official channels. Then it was proof via official channels of my last day at work. They had all this stuff already.

I agree with you, Pete. After you are 100% you are a write off. They know you will never "get better" so they just push some meds at you. I think they even resent it if you were to want to get better. I mean you are getting the full ride, so why should you ask the VA for anything else. We who are 100% are graduates of the system. We have gone in one end of the meatgrinder and come out the other. The VA really believes that they are providing first class care for us lucky few. Are we successes of the VA system or failures?

If you are rated as 100% schedular for a single disability the VA is supposed to consider you for housebound. They almost never do it that unless you claim it. You have to be housebound as defined to get it, but the VA is supposed to consider it and rule it in or out. If you feel that your disability renders you HB then file a claim for it.

I think you should have gotten a diagnosis of residual schizophrenia. That means you had a episode and still have some residuals of it, but are not currently psychotic. You don't go from being psychotic to a personality disorder. Personality disorders are stable but maladaptive conditions. Prisons are full of PD's but they are never psychotic.

My cardiac exam was done by a PA and it was inadequate. It was signed off on by a regular doctor which makes me wonder since the exam did not include required stress test to determine METS. The PA did include a new diagnosis which was vascular artery disease. So, in fact, the C&P exam has expanded my original diagnosis. I was at 0% for arterioscelorotic heart disease and the PA said no heart disease at present indicated, but I got a stress test at the VA recently. All this secondary to DMII.

If you have medicare go to a real doctor and get this thing fixed. The VA in my hometown kills vets just about every week with neglect. It is in the newspaper every other day. Two major VAMC's in my area, and yet they kill vets by not supplying them with the treatment they need by just forgetting about them. What you have to get in your head is they don't care if you live or die. If you die while waiting they will send your spouse an apology if she raises hell with a senator. They killed a vet here recently and the spouse got an "oops, sorry" and that was it.

To some extent being non-compliant means you are lacking in "insight" which means you are sicker. Going for therapy or taking drugs just means that you are getting treatment. That means you are documenting your illness/injury. But as has been said what you need to get P&T is for your doctor to say you are P&T.

If you have chronic severe pain and are taking morphine you probably have a better case than if you are taking a less powerful drug. What is good for you in the real world is bad in the world of VA and SSA. It is a preverted system. Both systems promote illness and disability if you want to win compensation. List every side effect of meds since many of them incapacitate normal people.

What I know is that prostate cancer is presumptive for AO exposure for Vietnam vets. If the cancer starts in the prostate then it would be SC'ed even if it spreads from the prostate to other organs.

I had my general discharge upgraded to honorable, but I asked for the upgrade within a year or two of my discharge. I had a hearing, and me and my representative told such a sad and true story some of the people in the room were crying. I felt so sorry for myself I almost cried. Anyway, after the first 3 years after discharge it gets harder to upgrade, but going from general under honorable to honorable should not be that hard. If it has been more than 15 years you have to gain the military's permission to appeal at a discharge review board. That can be tricky. If there is nothing for them to lose then they will probably do it. If they think you are after a pension forget it. For instance, if you ask that your discharge be changed to a medical with any sort of pension or payment you need a lawyer because they will just slam/dunk you for every technicality they can find to deny it. If you are getting significant compensation from the VA it is probably not worth the effort because you can't get both and VA is more. Kicking people out who are sick on general discharges has always been a cheap way for the military to get rid of people. Hence the large population of homeless Vietnam vets.

What I know is that if the VA schedules you for a C&P exam and you refuse it you can usually kiss your claim goodbye. Even if you have good evidence they will deny your claim. It happened to a good friend of mine. We both had IMO's from the same doctor. I did a C&P and he refused based on his evidence in the record. I got approved for TDIU and he was denied. He then went for a C&P and got TDIU. The evidence was the same except for the C&P. If you don't play ball you get the shaft.

Skunk That is like the VA saying because you are mentally unstable they are not going to treat a cancer if you had it. If I had hep c that would make my depression much worse. You can appeal medical decisions that deny care. You go to the medical director. Are they going to wait until your liver fails? The only good vet is a dead vet.

At my VAMC you can only get glasses if you are 100% or service connected for eyes. Have they been lying to me for 37 years? I did get hearing exam, but I was already 100% (TDIU). Now I have cataracts but I would not those creeps operate on my eyes. I believe that when my CUE is decided I will file for SC for the cataracts and HBP as secondary to DMII. I want this CUE thing to get decided first. I am a lot more worried about HBP than cataracts. The dental thing is reserved only for 100% vets, and then they won't do implants. I just paid for one and it will cost all told about $3000 bucks. My VA dentist said my implant was not medically necessary. Private dentists said it was so I scraped the money up and got it done. Besides my dentist does top grade work and speaks English. The VA pulled the damn tooth and then refused to do the implant. I would end up loosing the opposing tooth in time. The VA tells us dental health is essential to our overall health, but reserves it for only the most severely disabled. They put cost in front of health everytime. People with bad teeth don't get proper nurishment. Not one real dentist will disagree with this concept except maybe VA Secretary. Vets are not worth fixing according to him.

If you are TDIU ten years before you die then spouse is eligible for DIC, or if you die from SC illness. If you die from SC illness the VA has to pay to bury you as well. I know it is a little more complicated than that but that is the basics. Try to die from SC condition. This will let you die with a smile on your face knowing VA has to foot the bill to bury you. The best revenge against an uncaring VA is to make them pay as long as possible and as much as possible.

A lot of winners lately and that is good. It does seem that this is the time of year when vets win claims. Since everything is based on the budget and not medical criteria this must be a good time to win claims.

He had brain surgery in service that resulted in medical discharge. That could probably cause PD. Maybe just pursue consequences of the surgery. You don't even need PTSD diagnosis if doctors will say he is unemployable due to brain surgery. He could have PTSD superimposed on brain injury.

I would not hire a lawyer if I was going to second guess him. If he says a shrink will help he is probably right. Now as far as the cost that you can negotiate. Lawyers who have experience with VA claims just like SSD claims know how the system works. That is what you are paying for is their knowledge of the system. Yes, in my opinion a civilian shrink who knows what he is doing regarding VA claims is better because you can control his input to some extent. With VA you can't. He might put something in the record that could hurt your claim. I won my mental claim using all civilian shrinks (three of them). VA shrinks were most unhelpful.

Skunk You need to get that lawyer! Every time you change course you risk getting your claim more screwed up. Who knows what the status of your claim is by now? You are getting good advise, but I think you need to step back and let the professional do it for you.