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68mustang
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Posts posted by 68mustang
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This entire thread should be locked and then deleted.
There is enough bickering on this site as it is.
If there is a lesson to be learned from Meddac's post, relating to the claim mentioned, I hope Meddac will share it. If some of the other members have some sort of proof that Meddac isn't even a vet or is genuinely up to no good, let them prove it. Otherwise everyone needs to shut up.
Delete this thread.
I agree with you about the bickering. If anyone has any proof against MEDDAC then present it. Those who don't like MEDDAC's posts, no one is forcing you to read or agree with them. We do have good moderators who will take action if there is a need for it. We all can use a little help to fight the VA.
68mustang
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It is difficult to get compensation for hearing loss as the parimeters are steep. A vet can receive bilateral hearing aids yet still be denied The speech recognition areas play a major part in the determination of hearing loss too. The tables utalized rate in the areas of 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 megahertzs and where the vets loss in these areas note if pronound loss or minor. I will see if I can find the parameters used, somewhere I have some. Till then, perhaps someone else may have them handy. The VA will also give the vet ear phones (headset) to use while watching tv, so as to not have the volume blaring, and still if the range is not severe enough 0% stays.
Audiometric results 250,500,1000,1500,2000,3000,4000,6000,8000 all hz; MCL readings;word recognition' tympanometry' ipsilateral acoustic reflex thresholds; word recognition are the tests they use to make their determinations..will look for ratable readings and post later.
Thanks halos2 for the info. Not being able to hear normally and the ringing in the ears, sometimes depresses me. I can just imagine how bad it will get as I get older.
68mustang
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Meniere's Disease is kinda tough. The etiology is unknown. Excess fluid in the ear, some herpes virus', etc. They just don't know, and that can play in your favor if you can get a doctor to provide a nexus between the two (hearing loss and Meniere's Disease).
You got 0% for the hearing loss. You no longer have to prove it is service related. You will only have to prove it is worse (on increase claims). Meniere's Disease causes hearing loss to worsen progressively in many cases.
Thanks Meddac.
It will be an uphill battle for me,but I have to go back to my ENT to provide a nexus between hearing loss, tinnitus, and Meniere's. Plus I have to turn in copies of medical abstracts, which state that acoustic trauma can cause Meniere's Disease. If you have any other suggestions please let me know. Thanks again.
68mustang
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Mustang68
You are right. When the VA does not want to pay for certain claims they will say that it is just the normal aging process that has caused it to get worse. If you have 10% SC for arthritus, and it gets worse over time the VA may argue that it is due to the normal aging process. I think this ploy can be defeated with a good medical opinion from an expert.
Thanks john999. So how does VA get away with doing that? I guess it is up to your medical provider to provide an ironclad diagnosis that will beat the VA.
68mustang
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Well I got my decision today. Service connection for Meniere's Disease not granted because it was not related to military service. Service connection for bilateral hearing loss granted at 0% because of military service.
The reason for the denial is that the etiology of Meniere's disease is unknown. The VA also states that the report from the QTC examiner did not relate the Meniere's to my hearing loss and tinnitus. My ENT failed to note the connection between Meniere's Disease and hearing loss, tinnitus, and military service. My ENT not having stated that the Meniere's was connected to military service is a roadblock, which I hope to overcome with my ENT's help. The info that I have found on hadit.com should come in handy. Plus I will also use info I have found on the internet about hearing loss, tinnitus and Meniere's and their relationship.
If my hearing loss gets worse, do I again have to prove it is service related?
Does anyone have any other suggestions on my Meniere's Disease claim?
Thanks.
68mustang
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Age is not supposed to matter at all in VA decisions. I think in reality it often does matter. The VA is reluctant to give a 22 year old vet P&T status for PTSD. They always believe you may get better until you prove that you won't. Legally, age should not be any sort of factor in VA ratings. They cannot use that as an actual reason for a lower rating. Age and education are not supposed to be considered, but in my TDIU claim the VA kept repeating that I had a degree in pyschology. Like that makes me very employable????
If I remember correctly I have seen some VA decisions on the internet where claims for increase in disability were attributed to age and not to military service therefore the claims were denied.
68mustang
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What it is saying is, because you are past retirement age doesn't mean you can not file for unemployability, or a condition that would be age expected such as arthritis, gout, congestive heart failure, ddd, and so on and so on.
Thanks Sharon for the response.
68mustang
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The following is from Title 38 Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans Relief
§ 4.19 Age in service-connected claims.
top Age may not be considered as a factor in evaluating service-connected disability; and unemployability, in service-connected claims, associated with advancing age or intercurrent disability, may not be used as a basis for a total disability rating. Age, as such, is a factor only in evaluations of disability not resulting from service, i.e., for the purposes of pension.[29 FR 6718, May 22, 1964, as amended at 43 FR 45349, Oct. 2, 1978]
I have read it, but I still would like someone to explain how it used in VA claims. Thanks.
68mustang
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Hi,
Can someone please post DC table or tell me what (DC) Diagnostic Code 5003, 5257, 5262, and 6257 represent.
Thanks!
Hope this helps.
68mustang
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Bravo!!!
None of us should feel intimidated by the VA.
I sent IRIS and phone requests trying to find out the status of my claim. I got many different answers. Finally I sent an IRIS request and was told that the exam results performed by a QTC contract doctor had not been received by the VA. I then called the 1-800 number and was told the same thing. By then I was very angry and I called the QTC office about the exam results. QTC told me that the exam had been performed on 2-4-09 and the results were sent 2-6-09. Again I sent another IRIS request telling the VA that I had spoken to QTC and that results had been sent to the VA. The following day IRIS aknowledged that the results were at the VA.
68mustang
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Great information!
You are welcome. Hope that it helps you.
68mustang
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68,
I resently got my rating for Peripheral Vestibular Disorder at 30%. The rater based it on an ENT C&P stating that it was related to SC acoustic trama. C&P doc says no Meniere's based on range of frequency for hearing loss. Regular ENT says possible Meniere's. The 30% rating is top for PVD but is an accurate reflection of the disability to me so I left it there. I could probably fight to have it rated as analogous to Meniere's for a higher rating but in my case I don't feel that is warranted.
The link between acoustic trama and Meniere's is a little tenuous right now. ENTs argue both ways. Good Luck to you and if I find anything that looks handy I will post it.
Mark
Thanks mitchell3006 for responding. I have to wait to see what the VA's QTC contract specialist notes in his report. After the examination he stated that I had Meniere's Disease, but did not state whether it was or not cause by the type of military job I did. I am rated for tinnitus at 10%.
There are medical abstracts that state that the cause of Meniere's is unknown and then there are some that state acoustic trauma is the cause. Some state that Meniere's may develop many years after exposure to acoustic trauma. There are also VA decisions where veterans have been awarded compensation for Meniere's that began many years after military service because of the jobs that they did in the military. Plus there are also many where compensattion has been denied because Meniere's did not show up until many years later.
The web site that I put in my earlier post has very good info about noise and military service. And how noise can lead to hearing loss and tinnitus many years later after exposure to noise in the military.
I will continue to post info on hearing loss,tinnitus, and Meniere's Disease that I find that could be helpful. Thanks again.
68mustang
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Medical treatises and abstracts are basically the same thing- the abstracts are usually a condensed version of a treatise.
I would think with your MOS (as long as the VA understands how this put you into acoustical trauma) would certainly make them consider an award for hearing loss if there is no other possible etiology and that the Meneriere's could be rated as SC as well.But I am assuming that there is someting in your SMRs or discharge certificate to support the claim you have.
Then again this vet was denied for hearing loss in this lengthy BVA case-
he also had Meniere's too.
His Discharge Physical revealed no hearing problems and apparently his SMRs didnt either:
http://www.va.gov/vetapp07/files1/0706913.txt
In part:
"The veteran submitted an August 1994 report for the Social
Security Administration (SSA), from a private ENT doctor,
M.B, M.D. Dr. M.B. reported that the veteran appeared to
suffer from Meniere's disease that resulted in a disabling
bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and a fluctuating type
of dizziness. Dr. M.B. indicated that the veteran had 80 to
90 percent hearing impairment, and that he first succeeded
the threshold (presumably SSA's threshold) of hearing
impairment in March 1993, and that his hearing had worsened
since that time. The veteran claimed in a letter received in
April 1997 that Dr. M.B.'s findings were rendered exclusively
from VA medical records."
and
"In November 1997, the same ear disease examiner who conducted
the VA examination in December 1996, rendered an addendum.
The VA examiner noted that the claims file was made available
a week prior to the date of the dictated report. The
examiner noted that the limited service medical records made
no mention of hearing loss, tinnitus or inner ear
difficulties, and that the January 1957 examination whispered
voice and the audiometer recording indicated normal hearing.
he examiner stated that while it was reasonable to argue that
the amount and type of noise exposure the veteran experienced
in service might have resulted in some hearing loss or
tinnitus, it was in no way imaginable that the experience
would relate to his later progression of hearing loss and
tinnitus, and the presently described balance difficulties.
It was the examiner's conclusion that, based upon the service
record, the veteran's present difficulties could not be
causally related to his period of active military service."
Denied-this just goes to show how adversarial the VA can be.
The veteran was an AAA gun mechanic and obviously exposed to inservice acoustical trauma.He had internet abstracts and buddy statements but the BVA held that nothing appearded at all in his SMRs for HL (or Menieres) and denied the claim.
Thanks Berta for the response.
The veteran really got the short end of the stick. If I read it correctly none of the veterans' personal medical providers stated that his problems were more likely than not caused by his military service. The VA did everything possible to evade the issue of service connection by using his recreation gunfire exposure .
The following web site has the report on the congressionally mandated study by the Institute of Medicine assessed noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus associated with military service from World War II to the present, the effects of noise on hearing, and the availability of audiometric testing data for active duty personnel.
It states that whisper tests were not reliable to assess hearing loss yet the VA
will use the military services administration of whisper test to say a veteran had no hearing loss at separation. There is a lot of info in the report, which can be read for free.
68mustang
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Berta
I have been doing research on the internet about Meniere's disease. I have found some medical abstracts and reports that state what causes it and some state that the causes are unknown. I don't know much about medical treatises, but are medical abstracts and reports considered treatises?
Acoustic trauma is stated in some of the abstracts and reports as a cause of Meniere's Disease. There is a book that states one of the causes of Meniere's Disease is acoustic trauma.
I am already rated at 10% for tinnitus, which was diagnosed as having been caused by acoustic trauma while working both in US Navy ships' boiler rooms and engine rooms.
How can this information be used if my claim is denied for hearing loss and Meniere's Disease, which were diagnosed by the exam specialist contracted by the VA. If anyone else has any input to provide please do so. Thanks.
68mustang
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- 6205 Meniere's syndrome (endolymphatic hydrops):
- Hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring more than once weekly, with or without tinnitus: 100
- Hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring from one to four times a month, with or without tinnitus: 60
- Hearing impairment with vertigo less than once a month, with or without tinnitus: 30
[*]NOTE: Evaluate Meniere's syndrome either under these criteria or by separately evaluating vertigo (as a peripheral vestibular disorder), hearing impairment, and tinnitus, whichever method results in a higher overall evaluation. But do not combine an evaluation for hearing impairment, tinnitus, or vertigo with an evaluation under diagnostic code 6205.
- Hearing impairment with attacks of vertigo and cerebellar gait occurring more than once weekly, with or without tinnitus: 100
Thanks Sharon for your response. Some VA decisions on Meniere's that I have seen were denied or approved when there was exposure to acoustic trauma. It does not make sense that some are approved and some are denied. I guess it is all up to a hearing specialist stating that it was most likely caused by your military occupation and hope that VA accepts the diagnosis. Thanks
68mustang
- 6205 Meniere's syndrome (endolymphatic hydrops):
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I noticed that on my posts recently there is what looks like a "Locked Topic" symbol? What is it and what does it do to my posts. Does it keep others from answering my posts? Thanks
68mustang
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Berta
I have been doing research on the internet about Meniere's disease. I have found some medical abstracts and reports that state what causes it and some state that the causes are unknown. I don't know much about medical treatises, but are medical abstracts and reports considered treatises?
Acoustic trauma is stated in some of the abstracts and reports as a cause of Meniere's Disease. There is a book that states one of the causes of Meniere's Disease is acoustic trauma.
I am already rated at 10% for tinnitus, which was diagnosed as having been caused by acoustic trauma while working both in US Navy ships' boiler rooms and engine rooms.
How can this information be used if my claim is denied for hearing loss and Meniere's Disease, which were diagnosed by the exam specialist contracted by the VA. If anyone else has any input to provide please do so. Thanks.
68mustang
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I see nothing wrong with this post. Is it on TV or at the Movies?
It has only been at selected theaters. It may go to more theaters in the future.
68mustang
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I heard about this movie on tv thought some vets would be interested in seeing it.
If the moderators feel that it is too political go ahead and delete this post. Thanks.
http://www.brothersatwarmovie.com/#/Home
68mustang
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Still have the question - What does ACH credit stand for ?
carlie
This is what ACH and EFT are.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/automated...dit_details.xml
68mustang
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You are totally right, Pete. I want to first give them the "couple of weeks" they said (it is so hard). Then, I will re-attack. This wait is nerve-racking.
How long did it take when you tried for your appeal or whatever you did to get the additional 10% from submission to end?
pilgrim01
I received this afternoon by internet a response to my previous IRIS request. I was told that after reviewing my files it showed that the VA had not received the exam report from the QTC doctor who performed the hearing loss /vertigo exam . I called the QTC office here that sent me for the exam and they checked their records. The records show that the exam was done on 2-4-2009 and a copy of the exam was sent to the VA on 2-6-2009. I called the 1-800 number and I was told by the VA rep. that the system showed that the exam record had not been received. I told the VA rep. that QTC had sent a copy of the report on 2-6-2009 and what could be the problem with the VA's non receipt of the exam report. The VA rep. stated that he would put me on hold and then came back and said that he had checked another system and it showed that the report was at the VA. He said he would note it in the system that the report was at the VA so that other VA reps. could also know that the report was there.
Get ready for this !!!!!
When I asked the VA rep. where he checked he stated that it was another system that they had access to. I asked him if it was the "VIrtual" system and he replied that it was. I then asked him if anyone can request that they checked the vitural system he answered yes. I asked him him where the call center was located at and he said Oklahoma City. Plus there is another in Phoenix, Arizona and I believe he said there are two more call centers. I don't know if when you call the 1-800 you will randomly be directed to a particular call center, which would account for all the different answers we receive. Thanks to all of you who mentioned the virtual system because I was not aware that such a system existed. It just shows how much this web site and it's members can help.
68mustang
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Pete,
No, I haven't received my award letter yet. Go figure. :P I was told by the 1-800 rep that my claim was finalized on Mar 10th and that I shoudl receive something in a couple of weeks. When I called the other 1-800 number yesterday and asked the rep what my rating was in Virtual he said 40%. I don't know what is going on, now. You got me a lil nervous....
Were you recently retired? How many items were on your claim? Maybe my RO is a little slower than yours? I don't know????68mustang,
I called 1-866-258-0341.
When I called the regular 1-800 and I was told by the clerk that my claim was at ratings board and that it would later be sent for authorization. Don't know what that means, but I was hoping that it might be good news.Thanks pilgrim01 for the number.
68mustang
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luvHim,
I called and said (in a nice tone), "Can I could get my current rating on the Virtual, please"? Just like that and the guy said, "well, let me see"..... then he said, "It shows you're at 40%, did you need anything else?" I said, "no" and "Thank you". I also called the other 1-800 number that I saw on another post in the forum that someone else had used. It wasn't the 1-800-827-1000 number.
What other 1-800 did you call? Thanks.
68mustang
Were you recently retired? How many items were on your claim? Maybe my RO is a little slower than yours? I don't know????
Va Decision On Hearing Loss And Meniere's
in VA Disability Claims Research
Posted
Diz thanks for the response. Will keep in mind what you said.
68mustang