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supportmyfellowvet

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About supportmyfellowvet

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  1. oOPS I did forget to mention that I believe the VA should just grant I.U. or award TDIU to a person who is elderly and at retirement age. B)
  2. Hi I've read the most recent update to 38CFR4.16(B). The scope of the law is tight. When I say grey area I'm referring to section (:D. The VA will target you using this particular note, "Therefore, rating boards should submit to the Director, Compensation and Pension Service, for extra-schedular consideration all cases of veterans who are unemployable by reason of service-connected disabilities, but who fail to meet the percentage standards set forth in paragraph (a) of this section". If a Veteran does not meet the rating requirements he/she will need to have their case sent to the Director of Compensation and Pension. My point IS when this occurs your SSI statements, tax returns, employment records etc. will be scrutinized. WITH that in mind, if we do not met the 70% required rating per sec (a), the VA will not grant IU. Most people trying to gain IU that do not fall under section (a) cannot show no work for more than 2-5 years, they have PTSD or some similar mental disorder but do not have a serious lack of employment. And that's just 1-2 factors, the Director of C&P uses other tests that the public is not privy to. I DISAGREE WITH THEIR METHODS, their are some Vets who cannot work due to PTSD, however, the Veterans Affairs made it such a steep climb that no reasonable mentally disabled person could climb. BUT, Although I disagree and wish to give HOPE to my fellow Vets, I know first hand that this short cut to IU is not worth the time. They want us to prove & document our disabilities and if you meet sec (a) then I.U. is a MOOT POINT. "(a) Total disability ratings for compensation may be assigned, where the schedular rating is less than total, when the disabled person is, in the judgment of the rating agency, unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities: Provided That, if there is only one such disability, this disability shall be ratable at 60 percent or more, and that, if there are two or more disabilities, there shall be at least one disability ratable at 40 percent or more, and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70 percent or more. For the above purpose of one 60 percent disability, or one 40 percent disability in combination, the following will be considered as one disability" Although I disagree with the VA's methods, some things are what they are. I didn't want you barking up the wrong tree.
  3. Many psychiatric disorders cause people to have "inappropriate behavior" as a symptom. Bipolar is WAY, WAY overused in society today. You'll often hear my "husband or wife is Bipolar". Yet, Bipolar has 2 main facets to it. A 'Manic' state and 'Depressive' state both which occur at different times in a person. The 'Manic' state can not go unnoticed. Mood swings are not considered 'Manic' behaviors. If a person does not fit into this category they are more likley than not Bi-polar, but suffering from PTSD Axis I or some other disorder. Almost all psychiatric disorders are easily recognized by a professional because they have one, two or three strong hallmark traits. B)
  4. Yes. It's the same with all claims. The claim begins once it's filed. IU or not, if on appeal same thing until it closed.
  5. I forgot to mention that "case law" will do little in our fight for benefits. Case law seems to confuse my veteran friends by fueling the grey area. We vets are helped on a case by case basis, but can't be helped if the min requirement of entitlement for services has not met. B)
  6. You must be rated at least 70% with one of the disabilities rated at 40%. This is the min. requirement, bottom line. PTSD'd or not, physical or not. Their are no gray areas. This is what you need at bare to be considered. :D
  7. Hello: :D In January 2006 I wrote a post that detailed my scare with the many cases of the Lipoma disorder I had found in Veterans medical records. I posted my scary experience below this post so please read before you go on. I must say that it's been almost 4 years later and I've found some interesting evidence that should be looked at more carefully. On one occasions I did find a case that ruled in favor of a veteran being service connected for multiple lipomas. I also found another who was exposed to agent orange in 1996 and was denied. Not sure if that person appealed. However, I did come across this "ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS" in 2002. It lists the multiple symptoms of Gulf War Veterans and included are "lipomas". I recently went to the Veterans hospital to have 5 very large lipomas out of my 45 removed. And of course every time I explain where I believe they come from they smirk! Every nurse, every xxxxxxx doctor, every student. The funny thing is they've never spent a day in the dirt fighting for this country and it's offensive. This condition is actually called: Dercums Disease a.k.a. Adiposis dolorosa A service connected disorder that has been granted compensation in the past. Thanks for hearing me out! "Among the 19 skin conditions, only “miscellaneous benign conditions” were significantly more prevalent in disabled Gulf War veterans than in healthy Gulf War veterans (12.6% vs. 4.1%). There were no differences in the rates of this group of benign conditions in disabled Gulf War veterans, compared to disabled Bosnia and era veterans (12.6% vs. 10.5%). This diverse group of benign skin conditions included congenital nevi, urticaria, lipoma, dermatofibroma, and vitiligo." 2002 Report see link ---> http://www.research.va.gov/resources/pubs/...ulfWarRpt02.pdf ------------------------------ 2001 Post (below) Hello all~! I thought someone might benefit from my story. I’m not sure where to begin, but I do feel that sharing this information with others is important. It wasn’t long ago that I worked in the laboratory at the V.A. hospital. The hospital will remain nameless; however, I have an extensive science background in the cellular biological sciences. I was asked to review lab data directly for the directing Physician. In particular this information came to me when medical students who were taking notes on the floor had to have their work reviewed prior to being entered into the medical charts. The VA is always backlogged as you all know so processing this stuff became mundane. I noticed after about the 50th doc, that almost every veteran had the same symptom and condition. I was worried but didn’t tell anyone what I thought I’d found, nor spoke to anyone but family until now. I thought nothing of it but coincidence. The next day I processed about forty five more docs and by the end of week found one hundred and ninety one cases of this problem. This is when I began to worry. But who and what would I do about it. Go tell all VETS in the hospital? No way!!! Even though I’m aware of how to read medical docs, I truly wouldn’t have found this disorder, but was lucky enough to inquire about the sudden emergence of this problem during my last hospital visit a week earlier. The first Physician couldn’t even tell me what it was. The second knew but referred me back to my nurse who said they were lipomas. It’s a small to large fat sac that will suddenly appear out of nowhere on the trunk, forearms, thighs, ribs, legs and back. I was told by the primary care nurse who visits many patients, that this was nothing to worry about. I beg to differ; after seeing the medical notations myself I do believe this is related to either the Persian Gulf War or to vaccinations given to soldiers. According to clear medical documentation I’ve read in JAMA lipomas are a primary in older patients over the age of 65 with a history alcohol use, and or parents with severe alcohol use. In some cases this may be hereditary, but they are rarely and I mean rarely found in anyone under the age of 65. A genetic predisposition to such ailment is rare and for me to find this many documented cased at a V.A. hospital in patients less than 65 yrs. old remains a mystery. I bring this small issue to the table first, because there are so many other manifested side effects in V.A. patients. Side effects that are a constant in all V.A. medical records, I believe this and other small health things we take for granted or maybe ignore sometimes have been a common problem across state lines. What’s bothers me about this is that it wouldn’t surprise me if the V.A. is banking on the fact that we never figure out that there are commonalities in abundance within medical records. I hope this helps. I had approximately 3 lipomas in 1996 and then a gradual increase with a period of spurious growth in 2000 to 35. I’ve had one removed because it became so large; another biopsied (neg for cancer) because they weren’t sure why so many showed up and rapidly. I’m way under the age of 65 and way too young to see anything like this ruin my life. I hadn’t thought there was anything to this whole thing until I found my 36th fully invading my testicle sac. The V.A. said it would go away, I have no children – so I’ve been praying and hope this sh%t goes away. -Thanks
  8. I agree with the other posts. But also think that you should always apply for an increase "if" you have new medical evidence that hasn't already been considered. Or as the other posts suggest, if you receive a "Statement of the Case" and you find errors then just consider this a point to "Appeal" and submit the NOD so they can correct this and INCREASE your rating. With a GAF of 25 - yes I think you were low balled!
  9. Hi all: Can someone tell me what privileges a 100% rated vet gets? I think my spouse will have her medical covered entirely, but where will VA send her? Will she go to any outside provider? I'm not sure if CHAMPUS plays any role in this. Do Vets receiving 100% get on base privileges? Any help would be appreciated, -: )
  10. Sorry to hear that! Always send your information to the VA via "CERTIFIED MAIL", request a signature, MAKE COPIES & track it. This makes them responsible once they sign for it. Most importantly state in your cover letter that you've made copies of the information. It's sometimes best to mail more than one copy to the VA. If you've covered all bases then they probably have it and it's not in the system. Good Luck :D
  11. OK, are you rated for any mental heal dx? if so how did you go about obtaining a rating? anyone have any experience or can anyone share an experience that will help guide me through their treacherous swamps. 1) i know they'll low ball me at first 2) i will file an appeal but did any of you have a hard time obtaining a rating for PTSD? do any of you have a rating for a mental health issue. Thanks,
  12. WoW! No I don't have an approved claim for PTSD. I have a (new) open claim. But from the sound of it you believe I'm in there. I don't know if I can file for IU until I'm 70% or greater with a combined rating of at least 50% for one disabilty and 20 or greater for another. I tried a claim for IU 3 years ago when I was 50% and that was the response I received from VA. I was not working and had not worked in years. I even sent them my Social Security Statement to prove it. The RO basically shat on me.
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