john999

I am thinking about filing a CUE based on an EED for an increase I got from 30% to 70%. I filed for the increase in 1997 but the ED was 2002 after years on appeal. I don't think I have much to lose. My other CUE is headed to federal court. I hope I live long enough to get these things resolved.

I did not know about side effects of Metformin!!! I do get "S" already.

It should say if the exam is a C&P exam. They may have just referred you out because of your having to wait for treatment. However, I would make sure I get to that exam or appointment. Did the letter come from your VARO? They make the C&P exams. Your VA hospital makes regular treatment referrals.

If you have evidence to show your entry condition was aggravated by service you can get compensated for that. If you have flat feet and the military takes you and it gets worse due to service they have to pay. You need to prove that via a medical exam and possible treatment records in service. If you can show you complained about increased foot pain in service that is evidence of aggravation.

No SMC change, Carlie. Yes, I guess if AO did not cause DMII I would not be SC'ed for it and for three secondary conditions. I remember VA doctor saying I had nothing to worry about regarding DMII unless I gained about 100 lbs. I did not gain 100 lbs.

I would do as Berta suggests and apply for SSDI and TDIU now. The longer you wait the less money you will get in retro. Just be very sure the VA knows where your new address is at. They will send stuff to the old address and USPS will only forward that mail for one year. Don't move more than once during this process or your mail may get screwed up. Maybe mail the TDIU for the VARO for your new address now, and tell SSA that your new address is where you will be at until you get a decision. I applied for SSD and TDIU when I was 30%. The thing is if you can't work then apply. It is going to take a while anyway. 80% or 90% does not matter for TDIU or SSD. John

I went from 10% to 20% for my DMII due to my being put on oral meds for my DMII. I guess the next step is insulin but I hope I don't get there. Nobody in my family ever had DMII. I guess AO really does cause DMII. I had my doubts but I think it is true beyond just statistics. John

Have you thought about mental health claim? I know being deaf can be an isolating and depressing situation. A good friend became depressed after having to go on worker's compensation because of severe hearing loss.

If you are confused about acronyms you mentioned I don't think you are up for prime time to get TDIU Inferred on your own. You may not want to spend 40 grand, but you are going to spend 40 years trying to get this retro money I think. When you ask for something like "Inferred TDIU" you are making a big potential problem for the VA. There are probably thousands of vets who should have gotten an inferred tdiu rating. They will probably fight you all the way, and with your limited knowledge it will take years and they will run you all over creation. I would go get the lawyer. By the time you come to a dead end you won't even recognize your claim. The lawyer gets 20% of any retro. If he does not think there will be retro he won't take your case which may tell you something. If you get a lawyer who will take the case it will be worth it. John

You can sue the VA for malpractice or when they make a disability worse.

I met some vet who had had brain surgery at the VA and he could not get another appointment. I think he needed to have brain surgery to have brain surgery at the VA. I do meet guys every time I go to the VA that think the VA is great because they got care for free. I think they are lucky to be alive. They feel pissed off because the actual service connected vets get priority.

The VA pharmacy has countermanded my doctor's orders on more than one occasion. I don't see how they can do this. Isn't it malpractice for a pharmacists to change a doctor's orders? One time when my doctor was trying to get my pain meds coordinated the pharmacists stepped in and changed the doctor's script for me. I should get all pain meds on the same day since the script is only good for 30 days at a time. Now I get half the meds around the middle of the month and the other half around the first. If I had a good pain doctor who would just give me the pills I need, and not try to do nerve blocks on me for the big money I would probably never go to the VA. Just driving out to the VA hospital puts my life at risk since the interstate and main road to the VA is like death race 2000. How can I get Fee Base? These trips to the VA send me off the deep end for about a day afterwards. I am officially housebound. Could I get Fee Base on that condition? I do not need to drive 40 miles round trip to get blood work and talk to my doctor for ten minutes about the same old stuff. John

If you have vision problems secondary to DMII that should be worth an SMC of some degree. How does DMII cause frozen shoulder? I never heard of that but I am not a doctor. DMII causes so many secondary conditions including kidney, eye, heart, foot and nerve problems. There is probably a 20 item list of DMII secondary problems. You have loss of use of both arms? How do you get around? Do you need assistance eating, bathing, dressing etc? If you can't use your arms you should get the whole thing.

Topomax can cause eye problems. If you take it then you should have your vision checked often. The VA knows this. Topomax is for the same things that lyrica and neurotin are for but Topomax has more side effects.

Don't forget to file the Employment Questionnaire every year on the date you got TDIU! You need to tell the VA you have not worked in the previous year after you have been on TDIU for a year! Send it Certified Mail/Return Receipt to the VA and not to your VSO. You were lucky to get this resolved so fast. These minor screw-ups can take years to fix. If you can't work it means you can't work. No part time this or that. Now you should aim for P&T. Have you file for SSDI yet? John

You must understand that the C&P is just round one in the claims process. If you get denied you file a NOD. The VA should get back to you with a SOC. You got get an IME to back your claim. You cannot depend on the VA for evidence. You must generate the medical evidence yourself via your SMR's and private doctors. Most here who are 100% started at 10% or 30%. They got their TDIU or 100% via the appeals process. You fight VA generated medical evidence with your private medical evidence. If you don't or can't spend the money they you better spend the time learning every VA rule and regulation. Most C&P exams are inadequate in some way, but the fastest way to beat them is your own IME/IMO. You can appeal the C&P and ask for a new one but you may get a worse one. I did. John

Progress on backlog is pretty funny. I filed a FDC over a year ago. It took one year to get a C&P exam which was not necessary since all the evidence for an increase was in my claim. Now I have one claim headed for federal court, and I am thinking about filing a claim for an EED on a 70% rating I got in 2002 which was on appeal since 1997. I was at 30% for five years waiting on an increase. I got the increase in 2002 but the ED was 2002. Something wrong but I was intent on get TDIU, so I let it slide. Now I think of these potential fights and I wonder if it is worth the stress and uncertainty? When the VA lies to me it makes me madder and then I file more claims. I don't mean to get off the topic of overall VA failure. The VA is failing us all. I have to visit my new PCP today. God knows what kind of xxxxxxx he will be I am hoping he just continues the mildly poor care I have been getting. John

I am pretty sure you are supposed to be at the hearing for reduction. No excuses as to not being able to get there are going to help you. Be there with your evidence like an IMO. If you don't get care for your PTSD at the VA or a vet center I would start getting it. If they prescribe meds take them. Many vets get their 100% and just stop going for treatment. Unless you are P&T and over 55 and have been 100% for at least five years this is a mistake. I am 64 P&T and I still go to the VA about my conditions. I am not taking any chances with them saying I recovered because they have no treatment records in front of them. If you can only make it to the VA every 3 months that is enough to keep you in the game. Compensation is not an old age pension. If they VA has reason to think you have improved they can do what they are doing to you now to me or anyone else. John

I think the time to get a lawyer is when you feel you need one. If you are looking at a difficult claim that includes hundreds of thousands of bucks in retro 80% of something is better than 100% of nothing. I have been there with a CUE claim that involved issues I did not fully understand. When you get to the BVA on a CUE if there is one obviously questionable part of your claim it is almost instantly denied. These BVA judges assume 99% of vets do not understand CUE, so you get a denial on the standard denial options.

Yes, if the CUE is very clear the VA can act fast. I got one in about 4 months on my Housebound SMC. This is unusual, but if the CUE is unquestionable you can get it fast. If there is the slightest question about the CUE then it is off to the races.

I believe you have to file a claim for it, but how far along are you with the original claims process, and how long have you been out of the service? If you add it in now it will delay your current claim. If you have been out less than a year I would claim it now anyway because even if they don't find PTSD and find some other mental disorder you will probably be SC'ed for it during the first year after discharge.

According to my lawyer, it is a basic violation of due process if the VA does not give you appeal rights with your rating, or if they send your rating and appeal rights to the wrong address. He says it is a CUE and we are going to federal court about it. However, unless your claim is final you don't have a CUE I think. In 1984 they did not have to list evidence or "reasons and basis" for a decision, but they did have to supply your decision and appeal rights. How can you appeal if you don't know your rights? This is what we are asking? In 60's, 70's and 80's decisions were horrible and I do believe that in the 80's there was a concerted effort to reduce vets. They tried it on me. John

If you do odd jobs do them for cash with no records. If your customer starts to complain give them their money back or forget about it. Don't do anything that requires a contract or a permit. Lots of guys cut grass for cash and tell no one. If you are going to work, and report it to IRS and/or SSA you are heading for trouble with the VA over TDIU. That is what I think. Be sure you send in that employment questionnaire every years with proof of mailing at least. I have been on TDIU since 2001. I have not worked, but I have received money from union settlements that I had to report. I explained it and sent them a copy of the settlement to explain the W-2 and the money. I trust them not at all. I do wish that TDIU vets could maybe do some part time work, but if you read the TDIU as Total Disability Due to Individual Unemployability just think about what that means to some VA employee. Total is Total. John

They are born liars. They can't help it. It is the same old VA to me that is has been for 40 years. I don't trust them to fix an ingrown toenail. They filled the same cavity three times before I gave up and went to a private dentist. The filing in between my front teeth kept falling out via the bored VA dentist. I am suppose to trust these idiots with an implant.....NO,NO I don't want to get an infection and lose half my jaw. John

If he was hurt that bad that they discharged him I am thinking (maybe I am wrong) that they must have given him some disability rating if he went through MEB/PEB. I wonder since he was in less than 180 days if they asked him if he wanted a discharge and he took it. The military is very tricky. If they think they can get out of paying disability they will willingly cheat any vet. A friend of mine had poor eyesight but was accepted as an enlisted man and went through basic. When he went to AIT they gave him an option of getting out of the Army or staying in due to his poor eyesight. He took the honorable discharge. No G.I. Benefits. He was in less than 6 months back in 1968. I thought he was the luckiest guy in the world because my eyes were pretty bad as well, but I got sent to Vietnam. Flip of a coin? I was in a military hospital for 3 weeks due to a lung infection. There is no record of this in my SMR's. My SMR's from Basic do not exist where I complained about my feet and knees over and over again. John