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allan
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Posts posted by allan
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chr49,
my DRO review lasted 4 yrs. Just to have the same evidence ignored and recieve rubber stamped SOC's.
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VA Begins Implementation of Open Source EHR
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/01/va-begins-implementation-of-open-source-ehr/
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TBI Veterans: Detecting Hidden Eye Injuries | Veterans Today
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[What a bunch of idiots. To actually write a letter saying a Veteran was not eligible for benefits because a VA employee said so? And then sending out page 671 and 674 and leaving out 672 & 673. Made up page numbers. ]
Most likely they know the statical number of vets, that will "NEVER" check the codes to see if they have recieved all of their benefits.
United states codes
Code of federal regulations
M-Manuals
Would they try to decieve you? Well, you probably already know the answer. Think how easy it is for those with brain trauma, and other illnesses to be treated the same way and never catch on.
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Systemic Issues Reported During Inspections at VA Regional Offices
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A National Shame: The VA plays a shell game with Veterans Benefits
http://www.pebforum.com/content/national-shame-va-plays-shell-game-veterans-benefits-54/
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Military Update: Ill reservists blame post-war ‘spray bird’ missions
Written by Tom Philpott
Tuesday, 05 July 2011
http://lakeconews.com/content/view/20450/919/
In a complaint to the Air Force inspector general, a retired officer alleges health officials have known since at least 1994 of Agent Orange contamination aboard C-123 aircraft flown by reserve squadrons for a decade after the Vietnam War, and failed to warn personnel of the health risks.
After the Air Force stopped using UC-123K Provider aircraft to spray herbicide on the jungles of Vietnam, some of those aircraft, their spray tanks removed, were reassigned in 1972 to new missions at three stateside bases.
For the next decade Air Force reservists flew and maintained them. Last month one of the post-war crewmen, disabled retiree Maj. Wesley T. Carter, 64, of McMinnville, Ore., had a heart attack requiring surgery, and also learned that he has prostate cancer.
A medical service officer, Carter said he thought about the many hours he had served aboard foul-smelling C-123 “spray birds” after the war, flying out of Westover Air Force Base, Mass. So in recent weeks he conducted online searches, looking for any report of lingering Agent Orange contamination on these planes assigned Reserve missions until 1982.
What Carter found alarmed him, enough he told me, that he began to contact crewmen from his squadron. The first five he reached had prostate cancer, Carter said. He heard of others who had died, most of them from more diseases that Department of Veterans Affairs presumes, at least for veterans of Vietnam, were caused by Agent Orange exposure.
From: RetAirForceMan@aol.com [mailto:RetAirForceMan@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 9:41 AM
To: rstanton@stjoelive.com; mporter@vva.org
Cc: colonel-dan@sbcglobal.net
Subject: Check out Lake County News | California - Military Update: Ill reservists bla
Lake County News | California - Military Update: Ill reservists blame post-war ‘spray bird’ missions
LeRoy G. Foster, MSgt, Retired
MSGT LEROY G. FOSTER, USAF, RETIRED
100% Service Connected disabled from Agent Orange on Guam
Life Member of the VVA of New York
Life Member of the DAV of New York
Member of the American Legion Post 777 of NY
Visit Your Group
"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
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http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2011-07-06-dust-risk-troops-Pentagon_n.htm
Scientists say Pentagon misleads on dust study
By Kelly Kennedy, USA TODAY
PARTIAL REPRINT BELOW
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is falsely claiming its research shows that airborne dust in Iraq and Afghanistan poses no health risk to U.S. troops, say three scientists whose review of that research found it riddled with mistakes.
Military officials then falsely said the review of their research backed their conclusion that the dust in the two war zones is no different from that in California, scientists Philip Hopke, Mark Utell and Anthony Wexler say.
The scientists, who issued their report last year for the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences, were part of a team that reviewed a 2008 study at the request of the Pentagon.
The earlier report, which was conducted for the military by the Nevada-based Desert Research Institute, made a series of incorrect conclusions and used faulty research methods, the 2010 study showed.
· MORE: Researcher links toxins in war-zone dust to ailments
It is simply not true that research supports the Pentagon's claim that Middle Eastern dust is similar to that in the United States or that it poses no health risks, says Hopke, a Clarkson University scientist who conducted the National Research Council study.
Visit Your Group
"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
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Go to web site for list of bases and info on each base…mostly USMC & USAF & NAVAL
From: ROBERT SENSKE [mailto:bsenske@ameritech.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 6:29 PM
To: undisclosed recipients:
Subject: [VeteranIssues- MARINES] Federal agency begins survey about Lejeune water
Forward to as many Marines as you know.
This is another cover up that should have never occurred. Many Marines trained at Lejeune. There are also factual write ups on the cover up by and also "Military Base Contamination" @
http://www.militarycontamination.com/SanDiegoCountyCA.php
that covers Camp Pendleton, as well as other Military properties in California and many other states.
Bob Senske
"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
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Agent Orange buried under military base?
Published: July 8, 2011 at 9:17 AM
Partial reprint
CHILGOK, South Korea, July 8 (UPI) -- A team of investigators says it has detected the presence of metallic drums buried under a South Korean military base that could contain Agent Orange.
The joint South Korean-U.S. investigation said it detected unidentified metal objects buried beneath a helipad at Camp Carroll in Chilgok, some 180 miles southeast of Seoul.
The location of the drums matches claims made in May by some retired American soldiers who said they buried 250 55-gallon drums of Agent Orange at the site in 1978. Agent Orange is a defoliant used in Vietnam and it has been linked to birth defects and cancer.
"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
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Thanks Bergie. Good post. I use mostly splenda.
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I know just how you feel.
I'm having more trouble with being able to stand. Numbness and shooting pain down both legs now. Butt cheeks feel brused. Used to be just the right leg or just the left. Have lost 1 inch in the length of my right leg due to muscle loss from nerve damage is my guess. But, just a guess cuz no ones ever said what caused it.
I've lost work just by sneezing and having a disk pop to the side.
I have several disks and joints in the cervical, thoracic and lumbar that are bad. One in the cervical that is poking the spinal cord, but hasnt penitrated it according to MRI results.
According to research i've read and people i've talked to who've had joint fusion, they say it wasn't worth it and little if any pain was helped.
I've delt with DDD and DJD for over 40 yrs. Have had many periods of 3 months or so where I could barely walk.
About all i've found that helps is muscle relaxants for spasms, and Oxycontin CR. You must do some kind of exercises and stretches. Any part you dont use, you'll loose the use of it. If the disc is completely gone, you may not have a choice but choose fusion.
I'm no dr, just know how"my" body works.
PS
After seeing the patient next to me only get operated on one side of his cervical because the students operating ran out of time in the operating room, than having to go through being knocked out and another operation the next day to finish it, I don't think I would have the VA operate anyway. I would rather get surgery where i'm not a lab rat.
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I've been waiting for 15 months for the RO to finish processing a rating that was remanded by the BVA in 2009. They've rated the left shoulder arthritis due to trauma at 10%, but not the loss of range of motion noted in medical examinations and the C&P they sent me to. I claimed this as a secondary issue after it was remanded by the BVA for rating in 2009
The C&P examiner also states there is bursitis, tenosynovitis, and moderate tendinosis/tendinopathy and that it is a result of progression of the previous diagnoses of arthritis due to trauma.
After 15 months of waiting for a SOC from the VARO on my NOD, I hear through the 1-800 number that their waiting for me to sign the form 9 and send it on to the BVA. I told the operator i've had no contact from the VA and i'm not about to sign a form 9. What I want is my NOD to be processed for the remaining issues at the VARO level.
I've read that bursitis, tenosynovitis, and moderate tendinosis/tendinopathy are not to be combined. Can someone explain what that works out to as a rating? Seems like it should be evidence of an increase for the Arthritis due to trauma at 10% and rate as loss of range of motion.
thanks for any replies................Allan
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GREAT WAY TO TREAT A DISABLED VETERAN: Gorgia Homeowners Association Blocks Home for Disabled Vet
http://www.progressivenewsdaily.com/?p=18094
There should be laws protecting Disabled Veterans from such greed and stupidity.................
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To: Veteran Issues by Colonel Dan <VeteranIssues@yahoogroups.com> Subject: [VeteranIssues] FW: Pollutants linked to diabetes in new study: MedlinePlusDate: Jul 4, 2011 4:32 AM
Also see: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/2011/06/17/dc10-2116
Diabetes is service connected if you served in Viet Nam…file claim
---- Forwarded Message -----
From: David Adkison <idaadkison@bellsouth.net>
To:
Sent: Saturday, July 2, 2011 10:37 AM
Subject: Pollutants linked to diabetes in new study: MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_113806.html
Pollutants linked to diabetes in new study
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_113806.html (*this news item will not be available after 09/27/2011)
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Related MedlinePlus Pages
- <LI class=MsoNormal>
By Genevra Pittman
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with higher levels of pesticides and other pollutants in their blood may be more likely to get type 2 diabetes, suggests a new study of elderly Swedes.
The findings add to a growing body of evidence that these chemicals might drive changes in the body that lead to diabetes, researchers say, although they don't prove that one causes the other.
Taken together, the data suggest that there is more to the blood sugar disease than eating too much and not getting enough exercise, said Dr. David Carpenter, head of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany in New York.
The pollutants, including pesticides and poly-chlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are largely found in meat and fatty fish. Some of them, including PCBs -- once used in paint, plastics, and for electrical equipment manufacturing -- are heavily regulated and no longer used in many countries.
However, "the exposure to these chemicals in the general population still occurs because they have widely contaminated our food chain," study researcher Dr. Duk-Hee Lee, of Kyungpook National University in Daegu, South Korea, told Reuters Health in an email.
In the current study, Lee and colleagues sought to follow up on previous findings that had linked these chemicals with type 2 diabetes.
They recruited a group of 725 diabetes-free elderly adults in Sweden and took blood samples to measure their levels of the pollutants. Then, the researchers followed them for the next five years.
Thirty-six of the study participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes over that time. When Lee's team accounted for other diabetes risks such as weight, exercise, and smoking, people who had high levels of PCBs were up to nine times more likely to get diabetes than those with very low pollutant levels in their blood.
The link was smaller for some pesticides, while others weren't linked to diabetes at all, according to the findings, which are published in the journal Diabetes Care.
The authors note that the number of new diabetes cases was low, and the findings can't prove that PCBs or other pollutants cause diabetes.
But research suggesting that's the case is piling up, said Carpenter, who was not involved in the new study.
More than eight percent of the U.S. population has diabetes, according to the National Institutes of Health -- most of them type 2 diabetes.
Many studies have linked type 2 diabetes to overweight, lack of exercise and high blood pressure. In the new study, a big waistline was also a diabetes risk factor.
The authors speculate that long-term exposure to environmental pollutants could affect cells in the pancreas that secrete insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar.
It would make sense that heavier people are more at risk of diabetes, Carpenter added, because they're also probably eating more fatty meat and fish high in these chemicals -- and they have more fat themselves where these chemicals are stored.
While researchers try to clear up just which pollutants may be linked to diabetes and how, strategies for preventing diabetes don't change much, Carpenter said.
"I think the message isn't really so different as it was when we thought diabetes was only a lifestyle disease," he said. "It is important to reduce your consumption of animal fat," and to be aware of how much fatty fish you're eating.
Lee added that eating more vegetables and other plant-based foods, as well as exercising, can help the body get rid of these pollutants.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/k9xRuK Diabetes Care, online June 23, 2011.
__._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/
http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky
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To: sp5kelley2nd94th@aol.com Subject: Herbicides (AO) - Lessons LearnedDate: Jul 4, 2011 8:23 AM
Herbicides (AO) - Lessons Learned
http://www.2ndbattalion94thartillery.com/Chas/herbicideslessonslearned.htm
Kelley
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Subject: [VeteranIssues] 10 Worst States for Unemployed 9/11 Veterans
Date: Jun 30, 2011 3:56 AM
http://moneywatch.bn...-veterans/1302/
As bad as the Great Recession has been for civilians, it's been even tougher on veterans. Thejobless recovery for 9/11 veterans unemployed servicemen and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan is much worse than the national average and shockingly bad in a number of states, a new Senate report shows.
Even among all former U.S. military service members, 9/11 veterans have the highest rates of unemployment, according to the latest report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. The numbers are more appalling when measured against the total U.S. workforce. The unemployment rate for 9/11 veterans stood at 10.9 percent at the end of April (the latest date for which data were available) vs. 8.5 percent for the non-veterans, according to the report. (Seasonally adjusted figures put the total U.S. unemployment rate at 9 percent for April.)
May was even more dismal for 9/11 veterans, according to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), when their unemployment rate jumped to more than 12 percent vs. a national average of 9.1 percent. "[The unemployment rate for 9/11 veterans] generally trends more than three percentage points higher than the national average, and spikes to nearly 20 percent for male veterans ages 18 to 24," says Matt Gallagher, IAVA senior writing manager and a former Army captain, via email.
Work Type and Prejudice Partly to Blame
There are a number of factors contributing to higher unemployment rates for 9/11 veterans, the Senate report says. Perhaps the biggest contributor is that the vets were more likely to be working in mining, construction, manufacturing and other sectors of the economy that were hardest hit by the recession.
But that's only partly borne out by the list below. True, Michigan has the highest unemployment rate for 9/11 veterans, for example, and it has one of the highest overall jobless rates, too. However, California, Florida, Mississippi, Rhode Island and South Carolina all suffer from double-digit unemployment and yet none of them are among the top 10 worst states for jobless 9/11 veterans.
Here are the figures for the states with the highest rates of unemployed 9/11 veterans, according to the Senate report. For comparison, total state unemployment rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are in parentheses. In many states the unemployment rate for 9/11 veterans is three times higher than the state's overall level.
1. Michigan 29.4 percent (10.3)
2. Indiana 23.6 percent (8.2)
3. Minnesota 22.9 percent (6.6)
4. Montana 20.1 percent (7.3)
5. Tennessee 20 percent (9.7)
6. Kansas 17.2 percent (6.6)
7. Vermont 16.8 percent (5.4)
8. Connecticut 15.5 percent (9.1)
9. Nevada 15.2 percent (12.1)
10. New York 15.2 percent (7.9)
Another factor contributing to the dispiriting data are higher rates of disability among 9/11 veterans, the report notes. Advances in medicine save more veterans' lives than ever before, but that's also led to an increase in people who are unable to work because of service-related trauma. Additionally, men have been more likely than women to have lost jobs due to the recession, and of the 2.5 million 9/11 veterans, more than 80 percent are men, according to the report.
Prejudice also plays a role in 9/11 veteran unemployment, says Gallagher. Hiring veterans is a smart business move, given the work ethics, leadership skills and technological skills young men and women returning from combat possess, he says. "Unfortunately, many of our members have reported encountering vet stigmas during interviews with potential employers," Gallagher says. "The 'crazy vet' stereotype is unfair and inaccurate, and not representative at all of the best and the brightest that have fought these wars."
Whatever the reasons behind the shameful unemployment data, some estimates say the economy won't get back to full employment until 2020. It looks to be an even harder, longer slog for the 9/11 veterans
Read more: http://moneywatch.bn.../#ixzz1Qkuqvij4
"Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
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Subject: [VeteranIssues] Alvin Young Collection on Agent OrangeDate: Jul 2, 2011 3:37 AM
http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/agentorange/intro.htm
use the search feature on the page to get a lot of articles in PDF format…
for example search Helicopter, or search a Base… for example Eglin..
here is one of many PDFs
http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/agentorange/text/00255.pdf showing purchase from Dow Chemical in 1967
http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/agentorange/search.htm
http://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/findaids/agentorange/text/01711.pdf
Approximately 10 to 12 percent of all herbicides used in South Vietnam
was disseminated by helicopter or ground application equipment. Generally,
helicopter crews were not assigned to herbicide spray duties on a full-time
basis and rotated the spraying duties with other mission requirements. The
military UH-1 series of helicopters, deployed by the Air Force, the Army,
and Navy units, generally sprayed the herbicides. The most common spray
system used was the AGRINAUTICS unit. This unit was installed in or removed
from the aircraft in a matter of minutes because it was "tied down" to installed
cargo shackles and aircraft modifications were not required for its
use. The unit consisted of a 200-gallon tank and a collapsible 32-foot spray
boom. The unit was operated by manual controls to control the flow valve and
a windmill brake. Generally, each helicopter had three crew members.
A summary of the aircraft used in herbicide and insecticide operations is
shown in Table 5.
***********
at least 100 helicopter spray
equipment units were used in South Vietnam, and most military bases had
vehicle-mounted and backpack spray units available for use in routine vegetation
control programs.
__._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
http://www.angelfire.com/il2/VeteranIssues/
http://www.facebook.com/dan.cedusky
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VeteranIssues] Agent Orange FW: C-123K/UC-123K aircraft
Date: Jul 2, 2011 3:04 AM
Attachments: 2009-09-18_DISPOSAL_OPTIONS_FOR_18_UC-123K_AIRCRAFT.pdf 2009_02-24_AL_Young_Memo_Re_Ben_&_Orion_Decision_Memo_on_UC_123K_Aircraft.pdf 2010-08-06_General_Busch_Thanks_to_Dr_Young.pdf
http://www.nal.usda....ange/series.htm
From: Ralph Stanton [mailto:rstanton@stjoelive.com]
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 9:22 PM
To: Ralph Stanton
Subject: FW: C-123K/UC-123K aircraft
From: Paul Sutton [mailto:ssgtusmc6169@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2011 2:56 PM
To: Paul Sutton
Subject: C-123K/UC-123K aircraft
Additional documentation and narrative from Wes Carter, who is now uncomfortably aware of our dear friend Dr. Alvin Young (USAF-Retired).Hill AFB managed the destruction of the remaining C-123K/ UC-123K aircraft stored at Davis-Montahn, with much of the Air Force concerned about the Agent Orange contaminated status of the fleet. Using a Navy contract to shred the aircraft, they were able to meet state & federal guidelines for avoiding declaring the aircraft "contaminated hazardous waste" because shredded metal falls outside that EPA classification,and paid the Navy $1000 per aircraft to melt them into scrapingots..."for the automobile industry." I guess that means your next Jeep is an Agent Orange Jeep, although, of course, the dioxin would not survive the smelting process.One amazing memo by Dr. Alvin Young, a retired colonel and Consultant on Agent Orange to the Office of Secretary of Defense referred to an article bywherein Ben was touring Davis-Monthan AFB and his public affairs host described the fenced-in C-123/UC-123K aircraft as "toxic." Young's memos pressed the need tokeep the destruction of the aircraft a non-event, low-key, and for everyone involved to be sensitive to the possibility of media exposure...or as he called it, "misinformation." Misinformation, I expect, is anything not released in a DOD press release. Thus, he told Hill officials to have their Public Affairs people carefully word the announcement of dioxin-contaminated aircraft which had sickened hundreds of flyers (that's us, folks), "the media specialists at both Hill AFB and Davis-Monthan AFB should be involved in discussion of theactions and should prepare carefully-worded statements for the media", and merely describe the destruction of the C-123s as routing elimination of old Vietnam-era airplanes...nothing special. And very, very carefullyworded!And then, dear friends, Dr Young shoots us in the heart with his recommendation:"Although the Orion Magazine story received little media coverage, any new publicity on the aircraft may trigger a "storm" of articles that will eventually involve the health effects of previous aircrews and mechanics. The Department of Veteran Affairs (DVA) now provides "presumptive compensation" for exposure to Agent Orange and othertactical herbicides used in Vietnam. This "presumptive compensation" is no longer focused only on Vietnam veterans, but veterans who can claim exposure in other situations, e.g., testing of the herbicides or aircraft spray systems involving the tactical herbicides in CONUS andOCONUS locations. What this means is that a whole new class of veterans may claim that their exposure was due to the fact they were members of aircrews or mechanics associated with the contaminated aircraft that returned from Vietnam and are now located at Davis-Monthan AFB. The DVA provides presumptive compensation for such common conditions (in older men) of diabetes and prostate cancer, regardless of cause and effect."His advice was well-received. Major General Andrew Busch wrote him a kind letter of appreciation for his hard work, saying "your commitment to excellence is a model example of character and leadership, as well as reflects greatly(sic)on the USAF and Department of Defense. Again,please accept my appreciation for a job well done--you are truly one of "America's Best."Gosh, I guess it takes America's Best to keep the sensitiveinformation about us flying dioxin contaminated aircraft kinda quiet. I guess it takes one of America's Best to remind the Air Force that media coverage about the contaminated aircraft might mean a whole new class of veterans(that's us)who might claim that their exposure was due to the the fact they were members of aircrews" etc. Gee, the guy lovesaircrews, doesn't he? Really cares about alerting us to our exposure.Really cares about our families. Really cares about how much cancer and heart disease hurt. Really takes America's Best to care about COVERING IT ALL UP!LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR: The Air Force had dioxin-contamianted Providers which we flew for a decade in storage at Davis-Monthan. They had to get the issue of their contamination resolved, and shredding and meltingwas the option selected. The Agent Orange Consultant to the Secretary of Defense weighed in with his suggestions, and reminded everyone involved that the Orion article about the C-123K toxicity might resurface in new media attention...and in veterans claiming exposure. He was more concerned about exposed veterans coming forward than he wasabout those veterans needing to be told they might have been exposed. And for this, he gets a lovely thank-you note from a Major General of the United States Air Force. Young expressly stressed the need to manage the public affairs issues to prevent veterans learning about the dioxinsituation and coming forward to the VA with their legitimate claims.Andweget the shaft when we turn to the VA for our Agent Orange claims.I can't believe the Secretary of the Air Force SAF/IG officials knew about this when they dismissed my recent IG complaint.Wes CarterPaul Sutton "Dominus Fortissima Turris"Patriotism: Supporting your Country ALL THE TIME; and, your government whenit deserves it - MARK TWAINIF YOU DON'T STAND BEHIND OUR TROOPS,PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM !!!"Freedom is not free . . . but the U.S. Military will pay most of your share."Pacifism is a luxury paid for by warriors!!America Does Not Deserve Her Military!__._,_.___ "Keep on, Keepin' on"
Dan Cedusky, Champaign IL "Colonel Dan"
See my web site at:
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Brockovich wades into Lejeune water issue. ENC Today Pollution at Camp Lejeune is the largest documented Defense Department environmental contamination incident on record. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, at least 500000 people may have been exposed in the 30-year period from 1957 to 1987 …
SOURCE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/06/29/top-10-veterans-stories-in-todays-news-49/
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Mine could be caused from the MS or TBI i've been diagnosed with. Since it increases and decreases at times I think it's due to the MS. But i'm no doctor. Just know how my body acts over all the years.
Allan
Systemic Issues Reported During Inspections At Va Regional Offices
in VA Disability Claims Research
Posted · Edited by allan
I've done just that in 2009.
After a decade, the BVA sent my records in 2008, to the VAMC orthopedics dept where I was treated, for an IMO. The BVA didn't request an opinion for any of my spinal issues, only the left arm and shoulder. They completely dropped those issues altogether. The VA Dr didn't examine me, but opined the left shoulder arthritis was service connected, he couldn't comment on the left arm nerve problems and they never followed up with a definitive exam by a neurologist. I was awarded for the left shoulder and it was remanded to the VARO to rate in May 2009. All the remaining cervical, thoracic and lumbar, stenosis, spondylosis and left arm nerve damage is being handled by an attorney, since June 2009.
It left me to still handle the left shoulder claim that was already awarded. This is when I requested loss of range of motion in the shoulder since it was in my medical records.
The BVA shoulder arthritis was rated 10% Feb 2010. Again they completely dropped the ball on the loss of range of motion. So I filed an NOD and requested a C&P. The C&P examiner ordered a MRI and the results show I also have bursitis, tenosynovitis, tendinopathy. The codes say rate these conditions as loss of range of motion also.
The CAVC just remanded the spinal/left arm issues back to the BVA in March or April 2011. They have to explain why they gave absolutely no weight to a fully favorable C&P, fully favorable IME and a fully favorable IMO.
The CAVC case (spinal) will likely be done with long before the shoulder NOD. I filed for the range of motion secondary issue in June 2009. If the ROM doesn't come back rated in this next SOC, i'll find an attorney. That will make it around 3 yrs retro and maybe worth an attorney taking.
Right now I have an NSO that looks at my VA correspondence and passes it on to the VARO, most of the time.