autumn

i went to the iris.va.gov site then to ebenefits. i guess it is at phase #2 since 12/2010. for any correspondence with PVA it shows status #4 (closed)

i don't understand that if Sec Shinseki is head of the VA why his procedures get "snafued"? who snafues them, VA or Congress? does writing a Congress person help to get these procedures in place or is the varo types going to continue to be like a criminal org?

gee. i kinda thought this but was hoping it wasn't like that. no wonder it takes so long. and in the big picture how much time does this really waste for all parties without time frames in place. thx

thanks for the reply. i see where i didn't even ask the question right. had it right in my mind. ;-) what i was wondering is, can the raters take as long as eternity to rate something? like is there a process of quality assurance that claims get rated in some time frame or can they sit on them forever making any excuse they want as to why nothing has been rated. i was thinking Mr Shinseki had put in place processes to get things moving along? i see now i was reading the wrong "120 day" article. my error. doesn't take long for the VA to "take" something away does it? ;-) sorry for the confusion on my part, its a brain thing

09-1036 Henderson v. Shinseki (03/01/2011) is this an actual ruling that went into effect? its close to a year now still waiting on VARO to rate MS secondary conditions. hasn't done much good to prod PVA about this or a congressman's office. VARO here walks to their own drum so to speak. anyways, could someone let me know if this 120-day thing is real or not. tia

utterly terrible for her family... although after dealing with the navy and VA, just standard procedure for the gov isn't it?

thank goodness some vets like yourself were (are) able to sue and put the brakes on some of these people. too bad vets can't keep a "check & balance" on VA doctors like this. not to be vindictive but most on hadit.com have been blindsided by downright absolute medical care/reporting just to ensure no rightful disability -- in civilian world that gets close to malpractice IMHO. honestly, i'm glad Berta educated us(me) regarding this. i didn't realize Congress/fed pays these reps at these service orgs -- did i understand that correctly?

been a great source in keeping my disciplined when i act, though i complain on here a bit. the education here helps one to have a bit more patience than when fighting in the dark with little vision.

i'm not qualified to answer but hope carlie or berta chimes in on an answer. i'd be interested in that good luck with the five years back pay.

not a pretty picture to say the least. i think i'll ask my rep about all this and see where his head is at with this. since the navy and va kept telling me i didn't have ms all through the years, i didn't appeal for "ms" or "ms related issues" when i was discharged. i appealed for a higher percentage a few months after discharge and won that for my back issue. all appeals for the spine issues (increase and to correct diagnostic codes) were are denied through the years. twice with pva representation. that is some fairly complicated confusing items you mention. though i certainly didn't expect the va to allow a fair up hill climb.

agreed, cheers

i don't know why that request wasn't included. i suspect, he wants to get all the ms medical related rateable issues listed/granted first. i think, due to va sc'd the ms last year. that date goes back further than the date i filed the original claim for ms on. medical evidence proved the ms sc at during active duty. so i think he wants to claim earlier date -- which makes sense. claims were filed way back then though not for ms (seems everyone swept that aspect under the carpet all these years). so maybe he thinks ED is the way to go versus CUE ? hard to say. i can't seem to keep all this straight in my head. hadit always returns calls! ;-)

not sure if this is the correct forum for this question... NSO is going to try for EED once the ms secondary issues get rated. is this a fairly long process like an appeals thing?

an update. i think i posted this somewhere else on hadit but can't recall where. after contacting my congressman's office and they contacting the VA, a new set of C&P's were ordered for MS secondary/residual ratable issues. i had mentioned the "seemingly fake" C&P from Jan 2011 to PVA rep a few times and never was anything done about it except told to wait and we'll see if the VA does the right thing. the VA couldn't rate anything via that first C&P. he used no form or anything, just talked and wrote a general summary on two pages. the VA canceled the cog/memory exam. i told that to PVA too, and they have done nothing about it. VA said phone person said i didn't need one. Congressman's office is trying to get a reason for canceling that. note: i contacted patient advocate about issues i've had with local VA neuro office. first advocate said she put an entry in the computer system about it and sent the list to Chief of Staff. a month later i contact PA office for follow up. temp PA says no record of entry in system and no paperwork. i faxed it again to her, she received it, said she put it in the system my issues and that we have talked. its july 2011, and PA hasn't returned calls. note: VA neuro doc wrote in notes he didn't have a copy of IMO of a certain MRI (i've taken it to records like 3 times to have it scanned). so i walked the docs into the office. the front desk lady said she would put it on doctor's desk. three months later, no one knows where the docs are. doctor says he never saw them. office says they didn't get them or sent to records. records says they don't have a record of them being sent over. just another day at this VA. so, in the typical VA holding pattern.

regarding my post, RO did SC the MS in 2010. it is the secondary MS things that are getting listed and adjudicated for their specific diagnostic codes & ratings yes, i guess in "my mind" the EED for the cervical issues has been on my mind & when the SC that, i hope to get better medical attention for it.

my gut tells me you are right, my head spins too much about the other claim. more than likely due to my neck/cervical gives me issues that keeps it on my mind. thx

i think they did this with the "fake/poor" c&p's that wasted 6-7 months. this article is ole , but it states what we all know who have been through the "force the claim into a black hole.." http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_a_070324_why_veterans_are_wai.htm totally agree, it is bizarre. and there is not end insight. no one has been able to fix it

can't say for sure. i tend to think we (pva & i) have docs to show this unquestionably. as we know the VA will do everything to disallow this, as Carlie says, i'm walking through fire to get there. and this state RO is quite adversarial IMHO.

i think i applied the first year. voc rehab started about a year after that. somewhere in that period i went from 20 to 30% for my back issues. though they now concur the ms showed up after a spinal infection while on active duty. i'm sure pva knows about this rule/law a b!@#h about your dates. i'm not surprized though. they did the same with the ms claim. i'm sure you have copy of that shredded claim.

no, i had not seen that. will read it today for sure

nothing is at BVA now, only at RO. it is THAT, the effective date, that my brain keeps getting stumped on. so it takes them a year or so to get going on the cervical claim, at least the DATE would be in. i wouldn't think it would interfere that much with the MS secondary stuff RO is trying to decide how to distribute those disabilities.

very interesting. and i agree all that paperwork may just have the special link you need. case in point, going through old VA med records, i see where i injured my neck again while in a VA pain management program while active duty. injured it enough to stop PT. not a huge medical deal but just one of many pieces that show an ongoing problem that i feel isn't MS related & MRIs prove it. appreciate it. good luck with your case, hope you win

yep, you got it right, ie., what i was trying to express the first claim was for MS, that was approved 9/2010. now pva has requested secondary issues be listed, which is what we're waiting on now after the c&p's this year. i didn't include the info for the cervical, etc at that time as someone said not to confuse the MS issue with RO. to wait on getting all the MS stuff out of the way. i keep asking about this cus my brain keeps thinking of funds lost due to filing date & maybe treatment for the cervical stuff. it gives me much grief the cervical issues though VA says its my MS now that is cause that. hope that helps.

sorry, can't express myself as well as i used to. ;-) that answered my question, that is more than likely things will delay if i file. so vets wait months/years in between filing claims as not to delay?

thats were my mind is. i cant recall well, but i think i've mentioned this issue before. it is a strong evidenced claim, but like you mentions, VSO says not to file. we'll, then i'm losing money/treatment options for my cervical issues by keep waiting. there is very good medical evidence for my cervical to be SC'd along with medical complaints for it on active duty and years sense to present. the varo already did one "fake" c&p and i had to get another one to correct that one. so in my mind (maybe one too many ms lesions), if thats the kind of RO & VA i face here, why wait? seems they're going to play the jerk-around game anyways. i certainly could be wrong, but experience shows otherwise.