autumn

where is this 21-7840 form? i looked on google but it didn't pop up

[Writing for the high court, Justice Samuel Alito said, “The (Department of Veterans Affairs) is charged with the responsibility of assisting veterans in developing evidence that supports their claims, and in evaluating that evidence, the VA must give the veteran the benefit of any doubt. Rigid jurisdictional treatment of the 120-day period for filing a notice of appeal in the Veterans Court would clash sharply with this scheme.”] the above taken from this article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2011/03/ap-high-court-allows-flexibility-for-ill-veterans-030111/ ##------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- regarding the above statement, exactly "who" at VA is charged with this? the doctor(s), VARO, technicians, advocates, etc?

then i'm good to go, thank you for your time & info, it is really helpful and appreciated!

hey ashleigh, well, i was discharged honorably under medical (back injury) so maybe the item from that webpage, "Change physical disability separations", might apply. i can't imagine at all, that the navy would admit the physical evaluation board at that time left a few things out, either knowingly or unknowningly. the things i speak about were clearly in my mil med records and other evidence was presented to them as transcripts show. just seems they ignored it...to me it does, though i'm the one with the illness & disability so i'm a bit biased. thx

>>Also, keep in mind that the decision makers can only go with what medical evidence is of record at the time the decision is being made. and what if the physical evaluation board at that time either (ignored or didn't have) medical evidence but that evidence was clearly in the mil med records? >>If somewhere down the road some SMR's/STR's are discovered and they weren't part of the prior adjudication, it would not mean to file a claim for cue, you would file the claim under 38 CFR 3.156 c . there are a few bulleted items there that i believe will apply to my particular case, though i'm just a laymen, we'll see what the pva can do with that stuff is a cue filed to counter a mil med record error or a va med rec/decision error?

i'll pass this along to the PVA rep in case they do not know of this. thanx

i will pass this on to them. thanks for the info. we'll see ...

the way that reads to me, is, then why prove a CUE?

well, we will say how it plays out. whatever needs to be done & if it can be done i'll follow through on it and we'll see.

thank you for your time and advice...

understood. pva doesn't want to submit anything new until the ms thing is completed. the other claim(s) were originally filed late 80's early 90's so i could go back to those dates thanks for your time

ok, i wait then patience is a virtue at times. i'm no medical person so i have no idea if my spine stuff is related to my MS, never thought of that. i had a cervical and lumbar injury while on active duty, two separate documented events. the MS thing just popped up at about the same time. some infection in the spine at the time so some docs say. just looking at legal justifiable compensation for them (cervical & lumbar) thanks for the reply

i do not know what evidence the c&p doctor had 21yrs ago to be honest. he states things in his assessment that are incorrect and would cause medical prejudice. there was ample evidence in mil med records to show certain conditions, and from what i can tell (i'm a layman), the c&p doctors back then ignored it [OR] it was never presented to them by the service org at that time. as for the service med records, i would think, IMHO, that a few statements in them are just wrong. those statements are now viewed as wrong since the SC was granted recently. yet, how many years did va doctors rely on statements that were incorrect even though i tried many times to get them to run tests that would have proved those statements were wrong or correct?

back in the early 90's and just prior, i recently found documentation of a service org filing a few claims for me. they were denied. not surprized. i didn't even know what a c-file was until a few years ago. what i read, were a handful of medical statements from the VA that are flat incorrect, and i have documented evidence to support this too. how does a veteran go about getting such documentation corrected, challenged or whatever one correctly calls such things? tia

PVA has my claim now working on getting the MS secondary issues lined out. i have medical documentation that supports SC for another part of my spine that was injured while active duty. PVA said they don't want to file that yet and to wait until all this MS stuff is done. would it be unwise to file the other claim myself? at the least to get the supportive data into my c-file? the VA raters are very busy as is the VA. my way of thinking, and it certainly could be wrong hence i ask you folks, is to get the supportive claim in.

ok, thanks. you are a rater? i'll be honest. that makes me nervous, real nervous, just like the closer i get walking up to any VA. appreciate the help though.

thanks for the reply i've run into the same more often than not. like you did all the leg work, pain in the butt to some people, but finally got the deserved correct diagnosis of MS, etc when all the naysayers it was just in my head and forget it. i really have made more progress doing it the old fashioned way versus relying on too many others. and my documents bear the truth, when no one would listen. happy to hear it so far has worked out for you. cheers

i'll try to remember this. i write things down yet sometimes i forget to look at that paper. thx

i obtained a few of those and the two c&p doctors said the same thing. hope that is good enough... thanks for your reply

>What type of discharge - medical discharge? honorable medical (herniations, chronic pain syndrom, depression secondary to (chronic pain) >Did you receive some additional pay at separation ? yes, put i paid that back when they put me at 30% >When were you discharged ? 1986 >When did you file your first claim for VA Disability/Pension ? 1986 or 1987 >What is your 30 % SC for ? herniated back, depression (secondary) though the VA changed the diagnostic codes right after i left the Navy. not resembling much of what the Navy listed my conditions as tried to get that changed via pva a few times. the VA wouldn't budge on it >What was the effective date of your initial compensation ? 4.1.1987 20% service connected for back strain then they added 10% for depression. like i said they totally disregarded navy med diagnosis, changed the navy's codes to things lesser. the PEB ignored 3 CTs for herniations and nerve root issues, 3 positive ortho evaluations, 3 positive spinal tabs, neuro symptoms...all documented. i first filed for SSD June 1987, it was denied.

i've had one attorney group represent me. i did all the paperwork, appointments, got stuff to my c-file, etc. they did request a c&p, which got me a diagnosis finally. and they sent a couple of generic letters to the VA. never once did the attorney speak with me, only his assistant. considering they got 20%, just didn't seem right since i put way more effort into it than they did. which is why i'm leaning to doing this myself for new claims, record corrections, etc that will be approaching. finding a person who could help on the side, now that is a good idea and doable i think. and i would need that thx

was SC'd for MS last year. recent C&P said i was 100% disabled. pva is in process of getting exams for secondary issues (so i'm told) pva is in process of establishing CUE q1. when is the time right to submit a VA Form 21-8940? does one wait til all the secondary, etc stuff is done?

sorry to hear of the treatment. terrible to have that draped over you when the vet is already dealing with illness and difficult buearacracy. i have never heard of anyone taking such steps though i'm glad the avenue exists for when it is needed. had been curious of accountability with such orgs. doesn't seem to be any accountability at va though when they mess up though plenty to befallen on the vet. can i hire you as my legal rep? lol!! kidding. i'll check up on the tips you mentioned and see if they apply to my situation and follow up. as usual, thanks all for your input. it helps ...

ok, sorta understand. puzzling in that, how could one file a claim for something the navy and va said i didn't have when in fact i did have it, as they now agree to. i sure would have filed for it when discharged from the navy if i hadn't been told i didn't have it. they said i was depressed so file for that which i did. oh well, guess that is why they kept telling me i didn't have when in fact i did/do. LOL what a trip! thanks.

>>TDIU on the 21-7840 form i do not know but will ask them this week. thanks for the tip it was a strange C&P as i had thought it would be for those secondary things which some i clearly have i hope the rater see's it his way also. had to say really. kinda why i had asked on another thread about representing yourself. i don't think he was a neuro. more like a shrink or something. but maybe a neuro. the pva had requested exams for ms secondary issues and the va sent me to this guy. i was surprised but the pva only responded that it did support a cue in my case. they are resubmitting again for the secondary things so they can be rated and added to my claim. they sent a few IMOs supporting that stuff too. gets confusing