[Ptsd Claims And C&p Exams]

Yet another good reason to seek private psychiatry when you have PTSD....they would HAVE to take your civilian doctor's evaluation especially if he has been seeing you for a prolonged period of time. A treating doctor is always FAR better then a quick C&P exam and if they force you to go to a C&P exam anyway then refuse and NOD it to the BVA (actually CUE it under the reg that says they MUST accept civilian documentation if it is throrough).

[New At Seattle Va Hospital]

SS is contracted out and the denial rate is 71%

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True, but establishing a claim should be more difficult then keeping an existing claim at a given level (medically speaking). The seattle RO is horrible about following regulation and seems to think they are equal to the BVA rather then a VARO. SS, on the other hand, may be difficult to get, but they realize how rare it is for someone with a chronic disability to go back to work even with medication/counseling. In order for my wife to keep her SS she had to write a letter saying her conditions had not improved and that she had been hospitalized since the last SS inquiry...that and her signature were enough to keep SS. How great would the VA be if they took a veteran's word instead of assuming you're all lying, money grubbing jerks who waste taxpayer dollars?

I'm not a vet myself, but I can't imagine being treated as an enemy by the very people I injured myself fighting for.....without you these Aholes wouldn't have the right to deny your claims, because they wouldn't have a job. IMO, VA employees are, truly, the lowest forms of life on the planet.

[So's]

My biggest problem with SO's is how little they seem to help vets on a national level. Some do actually care for vets and will help them on an individual basis, but they need to be more like unions for vets and fight for vet's rights. The new PTSD commission is an abomination, yet none of the major SO's have stood up to defend veterans (what does that tell ya?).

I have been in VARO's that put claims through without any problems at all and I have been through VAROs (current one) that seem to break EVERY regulation in the book and, what's worse, they don't seem to think they are doing so because they have gotten away with it for so long. I dropped my DAV rep. because he told me that "sure the RO could schedule a future exam even if your wife is found to be P&T", which is an outright lie...he also said that, "she got 100% with housebound and you shouldn't NOD".....that and a general lack of knowledge about regulations made me understand that "I" can do a FAR better job then he can.

What has upset me most about my wife's case, and how it pertains to SO's, is that my wife was found to be 100% P&T with A&A and no future exams scheduled just 8 months prior to the seattle region getting her claim....even though ALL of the evidence showed her condition had actually deteriorated, they proposed to reduce her. Their basic reasoning was that they, essentially, did not agree with the previous 2 board decisions and wanted to give her a lesser rating. With GAFs of 10, 20, 25, 40 and current of 15 they wanted to rate her at 70%.....if someone like my wife is going to have such a hard time maintaining her level of disability with such severe symptoms, what are they going to do to other vets who have far less severe symptoms but are still 100%/TDIU? There should be an outcry from every SO in the area; instead, we hear, "don't file a NOD you got almost everything you wanted".

As I have said before, we MUST boycott these SOs until they learn to do their jobs and stand up to the VAROs in general and stop taking it one case at a time, which greatly favors the VA and not veterans. NO american on earth is going to side against veteran's compensation...NO american on earth would stand by and allow these ROs to get away with what they do....We only need ONE person to take our case public and we would take back the VA for vets.

[Stressor Verified Or Not?]

I am actually worried about my wife's stressor (and all vets suffering from sexual assault). My wife was raped (twice) while in the AF and really has nothing to back up that claim. She did file an official report after she was separated, but we know how those go.....! I think, in the end, she will be ok because she had a great AF psychiatrist and she was medically retied from the AF due to the rape(s)...essentially, the AF admitted they happened and that they caused it, but, again, I have only their word, no real proof.

What worries me most is that most victims of sexual assault in the military have NO proof and would only have the opinions of psychs to back up their claims. The VA could easily prey on this group of veterans if they chose to do so.

P.S. - Like the new forum Tbird:-)