Jump to content
VA Disability Community via Hadit.com

VA Disability Claims Articles

Ask Your VA Claims Question | Current Forum Posts Search | Rules | View All Forums
VA Disability Articles | Chats and Other Events | Donate | Blogs | New Users

Vike17

HadIt.com Elder
  • Posts

    881
  • Joined

  • Last visited

About Vike17

Previous Fields

  • Service Connected Disability
    100
  • Branch of Service
    Army

Recent Profile Visitors

1,259 profile views

Vike17's Achievements

  1. On behalf of all VBN staff, our deepest condolences on the passing of Carlie. She will be missed but not forgotten. She has an honorary ribbon at the top of our page. She earned it many times over. Respectfully, VBN
  2. JayBrown1, This would be a question for the service department and would have nothing to do with the VA. You said he wasn't medically discharged, but then stated; "He put in 12 and 1/2 years before the let him go. Before his injury(he was an Airborne Ranger) with an excellent service record and many awards." This doesn't make any sense. If he wasn't discharged medically, how did the military "let him go?" Vike 17
  3. Johnny K, What was the reason for VA's denial?? Was it because of this; "I saw a "contract" Psychiatrist at VAMC C&P hearing for a non-combat PTSD Claim. He denied service connection but conceded my PTSD" The doctor themselves do not make an awardof service-connection, the RVSR (or DRO) does this. If the C&P examiner didn't state that your stressor was the cause of your PTSD, then the decision maker had no choice in the matter. Make sure that when you go to your hearingthat the VA is aware of your statements from your doctors. Make sure that the doctor provided a full rational as to whythey came to such a conclusion and that they reviewed your entile medical records to include your SMR's. "I have four private Doctor opinions and one VA Staff Psychiatrist opinion which support my claim, and I attend VA group meetings twice a month for PTSD" The four doctors that wrote opinions, if they weren't a psychiatrist or psychologist, then they are pretty much useless as far as mental conditions are concerned. Just make sure VA is aware of the one opinion by the "VA Staff Psychiatrist" and your treatment records. Vike 17
  4. As I've said before on this forum, the VAMC and the RO do not regularly communicate with one another except for things associated with setting up and doing C&P exams. One other instance when the two communicate with one another is when a veteran is hospitalized for a service-connected disability. There may also be instances when a veteran has a claim pending and the RO and VAMC may be continually exchanging records as to the curent condition of that claimed disability, but in order for this to happen, generally, the claimant has to tell the RO first where the treatment is taking place because the RO dosen't have that information. Vike 17
  5. Both are considered respitory conditions involving the trachea and the lungs. I suspect assigning a seperate evaluation would be pyramiding. Sinusitis, although it hinders one's breathing, is in the nose and sinuses, which is a different bodily etiology. What disabilities did you claim that were the result of Asbestoes exposure? If it was some sort of lung disease, then I suspect it will also be lumped together with your other respitory conditions. Vike 17
  6. huskerfanfl, "I also requested compensation for my upper back and neck, secondary to the cervical spine" The upper back and neck is the cervical spine. Is this a typo? "and for my left hip secondary to my right hip" Make sure you have a statement from your doctor making the nexus bewteen the two, or the claim will go no where. Vike 17
  7. "It is not about the meaning of IU, it is about the 20 year protection" Sure the IU is protected after 20 years, but for those on it that all of a sudden are able to work right after the 20 years has elapse, it sure makes one wonder about their ability to have been able to work prior to the 20 years passing. I'm not talking about the veteran that has received IU for say 25 years and is able to do some type of light or part-time work, I'm talking about that veteran that has received IU and one or two months after the rating is protected, he/she is all of a sudden able to hold down a 40 hour a week full time position! "It is not rare for the VA to send a veteran for an education higher than a doctorate. I see these request granted often. The only kicker is that the vetean must display he needed the additional education to overcome the restrictions imposed by his disability." I have also seen VocRehab approvals for post graduate studies. However, as you said, the veteran needed to show that in order to be fully "rehabilitated" for employment purposes in that particular field they choses as a career path, a Master's degree (in this case) was needed. I didn't know there was any eductation higher than a doctorate in a certain field!?!? I'm not saying the VocRehab folks don't approve some veterans for post graduate studdies, it just isn't the norm, but rather the exception. I say that it is rare because when you take the number of applicants as a whole and see just how many from them have been approved for post graduate studdies, it certainly isn't the norm. Vike 17
  8. Robert, You don't really need to go through VocRehab to "try" and work again; especially if you already have a Bachelor's Degree. You can certainly apply for VocRehab, but the chances are since you already have a BA or BS, they will deny the claim. It very rarely happens that the VocRehab people approve post graduate programs such as a Master's or Doctorate. I'm not saying that it hasn't happened before, but it's just really, really rare. On a side note, by your post I assume you're receiving IU or 100% due to a mental disability, correct? If you're IU and start working after the 20 years has past, the VA couldn't reduce the IU award regardless if you had VocRehab or not. There are veterans that receive IU and somehow get to the 20 year mark and then are miraciously able to start working again shortly afterwards. This does make one wonder sometimes. I'm not saying this is the case with you by any means. Just something to think about as far as what IU is for and what it means. Vike 17
  9. Jerry, As Carlie pointed out, a deferred rating means the VA had to put off on making a decision because there was some sort of development needed, such as obtaining additional medical records ect.., to make an accurate decision. Vike 17
  10. Don, I receieved your PM. There's no need to apologize, I was trying to explain your situation as to why the VA has done the things they have. The pursuit of the PTSD claim, as I said before, is actually a moot point for rating purposes. By claiming it, you probably put yourself through more stress then what was needed. All mental disorders are rated according to the same criteria. Maybe getting the diagnosis of PTSD was what you needed to get the right help medically, but as far as VA compensation is concerned, it doesn't matter since you are already rated for one mental disability. "There was only the visits for rating every 2 or 3 years. Was not refered to a shrink to talk about what was going on. They showed I was getting better by the reduced ratings." The C&P exams are only there to evaluate your condition as how it is doing currently. You will not receive medical treatment or referrals during these exams. The C&P is for rating puposes by the Regional Office. If you ned medical help, you need to go to the VAMC. Since you were working and weren't receiving continued therapy and treatment, this is probably why they had to reduce your evaluation. The C&P examiner didn't have anything to go from except how you were doing on that particular day of the exam. Also I never said or even hinted that you were a "fraud." Like I said, I was just trying to explain why things have transpired as they have. From tyhe looks of things you really don't have anything to be angry at the VA for. Maybe you should re-direct the fire towards your SO? Vike 17
  11. jecsb4, If you submit a new evidence and request a reconsideration on a claim within one of the denial of that claim, and your request for reconsideration is granted, your effective date will be as if the original decision wasn't made. In other words, your effective date will be the date of the original claim. As far as the new claim for your knee(s) as secondary to your feet, you need to get an IMO and submit it with your claim to support your contentions. The best senario would be for you to submit the new claim along with your request for reconsideration. If the claim for the knees is granted, then the effective date would be the date of the claim, not the date of the "pes planus" claim. Vike 17
  12. Donio, If you were discharged from the service and received subsequent ratings of 100%, 70%, and 50% right from the get go, I would venture to guess, as recruiterrick pointed out, the VA was helping you! One question I do have is, if you were already rated for a mental disorder such as "acute paranoria and nervous condition," then why would you open up a claim for PTSD? They are both rated according to the same criteria and the VA can only pay compensation for one or the other anyways, not both. By filing a claim for PTSD, you would need to be able to prove an in-service service stressor happened, obtain a clinical diagnosis of PTSD and make the connection between the two. This is much more difficult then just showing another mental disorder manifested itself whil on active duty! You wouldn't have needed to file for PTSD in 2001 to obtain a 'higher' rating. Just a simple note to the RO asking for an increase in evaluation of your already service-connected "acute paranoria and nervous condition" would have been enough! It's unclear whether the VA granted your claim for PTSD (you didn't say whether they did or not), but if they did, then they will combine the two in one rating and assign the percentage from the one that results in the higher evaluation. Furthermore, I suspect the reason why you were continully lowered in your rating percentage since your discharge (at least from 100% to 70%) was probably because you were working in some capacity. I say this because you stated "From the time I was discharged until I filed to increase my percentage I quit my job held two other jobs went back to my first job to work in a different area..." The 100% criteria is for "Total occupational and social impairment," and the 70% evaluation is for "severe occupational and social impairment." Another thing that doesn't add up is this statement; "Had I known what was really worng with me I would have ask for help. All they did was tell me I was getting better when I was really getting worse" If you were discharge from the Marines due to "acute paranoria and nervous condition" and subsequently rated by the VA for this, then you obvisouly knew something was wrong!?!? Also, if "they' were telling you that you were getting better in some capacity, then you must have been undergoing some type of treatment after your discharge?? I'm not trying to put you down or anything like that, I'm just trying to explain what and why things have probably happened as they have. Vike 17
  13. luvHIM, "I don't know if my claim has actually already been reviewed or not. The NSO stated my C-file is with an "Appeals Officer" but did not say that it had already been reviewed. I started this thread to find out if an Appeals Officer could decide the claim at this point...that's all I wanted to know). But whether the Appeals Officer has already actually reviewed my C-file was not stated...In fact, rep at the 1-800 number this morning said that from where he was reading there was a "suspense date" of 07/24/07. His guess is that some sort of action needed to happen by or on that date but he didn’t know what. He said my C-file is with an "Appeals Officer" and something about the file being “signed for” on July 19, 2007" As I said before, your claim was already reviewed by the DRO. The SOC was the review. What's probably happening now is that since you filed the Form 9 and requested a hearing with BVA (either the traveling board or vidoe conference, it doesn't matter), the recent activity at the Appeals Team is more than likely them getting ready to have your hearing. Once you have that hearing, your C-file will probably go back to the rating board so they can decide the most recent IU claim first before they ship it off to the BVA. Normally all open claims will be decided before the C-file can go to the BVA! "I have not been asked by RO to provide a "nexus" or specifically asked by RO to provide an IMO from a physician which gives a "nexus."" The VA wouldn't have needed to ask you for evidence of this in their DTA letter. You were applying for an increase. You just happened to supply them medical evidence of another disability AFTER the fact. The VA wouldn't have known there was another disability in the mix until they actually evaluated all the evidence shortly before the decision was made. Since the initial rating decision was a "cut and paste" job as you say, then at least your SO should have seen that the two disabilities needed a nexus. Remember the rating and the SOC said; "Although your BACK CONDITION is severe in nature, your problems are the result of your ankylosing spondylitis, which is not related to or caused by service. Therefore, in the absence of any evidence that your LUMBAR SPINE condition has worsened your 0 percent evaluation of CHRONIC lumbosacral strain is confirmed and continued."" I'm not really saying you are at fault here. Your SO should be trained to see this and take the needed corrective steps! "The only physician statement RO would not have been able to review before I appealed is the one from my new rheumatologist, which was sent recently certified return receipt on May 4, 2007. It was received by NSO and forwarded May 9, 2007 to Appeals Office for placement in C-File... I have three from all of my VA docs and they are scanned in my VAMR. I have one from the VA rheum (also scanned in my records... Are you suggesting I send them (under separate cover, again? All of the ones from the VAMC are in my VAMR, which RO has access to. I have provided everything to RO through my NSO, which he has verified by letter (have all of those). I received letters from the NSO stating what action was taken with anything I have provided them. Why wouldn't RO not have them? Better yet, why would they list them under EVIDENCE if they didn't really review them already." At this point it's really hard to tell if ALL of your IMO's and medical evidence were considered by the VA. At any rate, you need to make sure that during your hearing with the BVA, they are aware of and in possession of ALL of your IMO's; especially the one from your new rheumatologist, which you sent in already! Also make sure the VA has your SSA records! One thing to keep in mind is that just because you were treated at a VAMC does NOT mean the RO has those records. The RO and the VAMC are two seperate entities within the VA (the RO is part of the VBA and the VAMC is part of the VHA). The two don't routinely talk to each other other than to set up C&P exams and so forth. You need to tell the RO of these dates and treatments at any VAMC, they will then obtain them via the "Duty to Assist." You can also do this at your BVA hearing! As I said before, it looks like the VA was able to seperate the lubosacral strain and ankylosing spondylitis based on the medical information before them at the time of their decision. Like I said before, I've never seen this happen but it can be possible. Also the lower back disability in 1984 looks to be the continuation of the 1979 rating. I say this because you said you applied for an increase but did not follow through with it. In this case the VA would simply have continued the 0% evaluation. If the VA really did give you a second evaluation for your back, even if it was at 0%, in 1984 by mistake, I find it really hard to believe VA would have missed correcting this simple mistake TWICE. The first time being the application for an increase in 2003-04, and the second time by the DRO! I mean it could have happened, but easy ones like this are pretty rare! The bottom line is you need to the connection or "nexus" beteen the Lumbosacral strain and the ankylosing spondylitis. Vike 17
  14. bern381, If this transpired during your C&P exam, you need to let your RO know immediately!!! Just write them a short letter explaining what you stated here and note that the recent C&P exam is insuffient for rating purposes!! If you do not let the RO know this, then they have no way of knowing what happened. Vike 17
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Guidelines and Terms of Use