Solo

I wasn't the first one to say fee-based. I call them contractors and Victor might not know what I am talking about. Lol

The VA uses fee-based physicians and are paid by the VA. I had a fee-based physician in the emergency department do a physical exam. He was an independent contractor. My lawsuit is against the emergency department attending physician and not the fee-based emergency department physician. The emergency department attending physician is not mentioned on the Blue Button health data, so I had to sue according to their title. Then I can use discovery phase of the lawsuit to ask for their name. Filing a SF-95 with the VA Office of the Chief Counsel can be tricky.

I am waiting to see if I develop cancer from Roundup and sue the Monsanto company the maker of Agent Orange. I was a maintenance worker with a Florida Restricted Use Pesticide Licence spraying that crap all the time. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-upholds-monsanto-verdict-cuts-award-78-million-n923121

He is going to need a current diagnosis and hire his own medical expert to link it to the Agent Orange if he expects to win.

The backlog for appeals can take up 10 years. They can probably refile while their appeal is still pending. It does state in the decision that you have one year to file a NOD. https://www.kctv5.com/news/veteran-finally-wins-claim-after--year-battle-with-va/article_d4f31636-c8c4-11e8-8195-df79fd6453c4.html

I doubt that they can even go back to the 1983 decision because it wasn't appealed. He has to continue the appeal the decision through the appeal process BVA, CAVC, U.S. Court of Appeal Federal Circuit, and finally the Supreme Court. It doesn't take 35 years for the CAVC to hear his appeal of the BVA's decision. He keeps on reapplying which starts a new date of entitlement. They are not going to pay him back to 1983 because he didn't appeal the decision.

They only started awarding benefits for agent orange after the Agent Orange Act of 1991. Your decision in 1983 is not compensatable before the Law became effective. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/disability-compensation-agent-orange-vietnam-blue-water-veterans.html

Request an Independent Medical Opinion if you don't trust the employee of the VA. That is if it is pending at the St Louis Regional Office. https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/3.328 You first appeal is to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction which is usually the Regional Office. That is when you request an IMO before they can deny you and give you a Statement of the Case.

https://www.hillandponton.com/ptsd-presumption-important-va-claim/ The 50% more likely than not occurred in service. You don't even have to prove 100%.

I applied under the PTSD presumption, but got approved for Major Depressive Disorder instead. I was denied PTSD.

I didn't have a diagnosis or received treatment in service. I used the presumption to get approved. This is how many veterans get approved. I will take whatever they give me. I got bills to pay which aren't going to pay themselves.

The VA only pays disability benefit when the presumption became law and that was recently. They don't pay benefits back 47 years. The "Blue Water" Navy bill if pass will be effective the date it becomes law. Even if they applied for disability now, they would not get backpay benefits for it. The benefits start when the presumption becomes law. Some veteran think the VA owes them decades of benefits when they applied for it now. That is not how it works. If they have one of the presumption now for Agent Orange, they don't need medical records back then. All they have to prove is that they served in those affected areas.

The Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation paid out a settlement with an average of $3800 to each Veteran for the class action Agent Orange lawsuit. The time to register as part of the class action is over and they already fully disbursed the settlement money. https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice-agent_orange-settlement-settlementFund.asp

Agent Orange and the presumption was recently passed as a service-connected disability. The VA is not going to back pay benefits 40 years for Agent Orange.

They want scientific evidence if it is not one of the presumptions. You got people who never even serve got approved with fake DDForm214. People could probably get fake medical records from a doctor stating they have one of the presumption. They got veterans faking they are blind and others who can't use their hand or feet. Either you hire a doctor to diagnose you with one of the presumption or hire a medical expert who has scientific evidence with years of research.