Ufrustrated2

@Dustoff1970, thanks. makes sense.

i have a telehealth MDE exam soon due to a claim that was filed. looks like the exam is for depression, psyc dx, and cognitive assessment, through the years and currently. it's been quite a few years since i've had one of these and back then they were in person. any advice and/or tips for these modern telehealth MH appts? what to expect?

wilco!

i will read it. thanks. i had a MH IMO from him too. it was ok in linking MH to the SC neuro issues. i think for the $ i would have liked a referral from him to civilian MH practitioner but didn't happen. i also got a MH one from civilian for my lawyer that he requested i get. bva appeals for that was granted recently. took years like most of us. certainly grateful for that, but what struck me negatively about the decision was VA didn't link any of the MY health issues to the SC injuries + disease that they had already granted prior and added quite a few secondary issues to those. my experience has been if a veteran doesn't get the correct diagnosis and links(secondary issues) to the injuries & disease you'll run into neg issues at VA with doctors, treatments & claims, etc. edit: i did read that maryland case. interesting. i can see Mr F feeling the way he did. it was sticker shock to me at first. i couldn't find a dr in this town to write anything and certainly i got zero help from VA. the civilian MH dr i saw and paid the lawyer had asked for was way less than Dr Bash. i'm glad i got a lawyer as i don't have the talent to write up stuff. the VA turned me down a few times the way i wrote things. but, i went through a handful of attorneys that wouldn't take my cases up. said they were unwinnable. yet found one, and they were granted. Dr Bash helped with one not so sure about the MH one. i will add VA didn't agree with a few things the Dr Bash and civilian shrink wrote. strange b/c the C&P dr agreed with a lot of it. VA central office has a lot of sway with what VA Dr's can say and write, i will say that for those that don't know.

thanks. i thought he had someone. sorry for reply delay, got back from surgery yesterday.

understood and thank you for your reply. i probably should have mentioned i have an attorney. he had filed the claims+appeals some years back with IMOs along with all the mil/va evidence. i think the latest claim was by BVA. anyways, the attorney was going to review it after he notified me and that he had basically "won". he said it was favorable but there were some sticking points he wanted to address/review. that was a few weeks ago. i know attorney's rarely get back until something concrete or worth it to take the time. so, i had recalled, Dr Bash back then had a paralegal or something that handled some issues. i was wanting, granted maybe impatiently, to get their opinion on it comparing my thoughts to his. thanks again, you've always had sound rational advice.

just a general question if Dr Bash still working? sent a few emails so far. i do recall he was always extremely busy. he did a few IMOs a few years back for me. and now i wanted to ask him or his legal person a question regarding a recent somewhat favorable appeal decision. tia

thank you!!

does the VA help with funding and/or grants to help 100%SC veterans with getting a mobility support harness for their service dog? my GSD-SD is certified for this task & etc's. his trainers recently recommended a few harnesses to choose from and they each get custom made for dog and handler.

i sent out the note here before i went back and re-read the attorney's email from a year or so ago. your reply prompted me to go back do so. i went on ebenefits and the appeals status is, "Your appeal is at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, waiting to be sent to a Veterans Law Judge". your & others replies have me staying course and not entertaining firing. i have no compelling reason, as you say. i thought about it and posted here, and now see it would be more harmful to my current appeals. wise course of action to wait and re-evaluate as you point out. thanks for the feedback/advice. my thinking sometimes needs to be reigned in.

apologies for late reply...in/out of hospital for issues...back now for a few days. i have read somewhere on the internet a quote by one of the former VA central office DC attorneys who boasted the same. i.e., we vets were more akin to an enemy of theirs and they rejoiced each time the beat us (down). i can't find the web page now, but i think he has a law firm now representing & helping veterans. the general public and new vets have no idea just how adversarial the place is.

i do the same. and yes, they send me the same forms. some system AI tosses them out i suspect.

i would have appealed that low-ball RO too. which in one sense is what we are doing after the non-sensical ssoc decision written by RO here and has since been moved up to bva. it is serious as i don't have skills to rep myself. they may be incompetent but they have the power to put claims in limbo for years+, send back non-sensical decisions and keep the vet bouncing about for years. even good attorney's don't seem to be able to stop that.

they already asked this. but i was more interested in current attorney completing the current appeals and they would pick up after these appeals is what i told them. after so much time & va putting my claims in limbo while on ramp, i thought "maybe" a new attorney and they can work these appeals along with new issue we discussed. the RO is certainly jerking us around. probably SOP for all this. of course not regarding attorney getting paid. the feedback i'm getting here is that is a bad idea. point taken

since it had to deal with an appeal to cavc, according to @broncovet, it is normal routine to adjust a fee agreement so it appears.