dwragon

Hi all, I have an appeal before the BVA that concerns the rating official sending SOC to wrong VSO in 2000. I had moved and informed the VAMC that I had during an appointment, so they had constructive notice of the address change, however, that is irrelevant because the issue(s) were for mental conditions. The VA was prescribing me medications but I could not afford them due to being rated at less than 50% at the time, and the VA was recouping my separation pay and being unemployed due to service connected conditions that they were denying but I later received SC for. Because I had been diagnosed with five mental conditions caused by mTBI, I was not competent to represent myself at the time (The VA definition for determination of incompetence is limited to the management of benefits.). The claim was inquired about and the rater declared that the claim was final. The BVA declared it to be reopened and service connection granted at 100%, but the Rater only service connected it back to when they say it was reopened. I am on medication now, so I am trying to get my footing. According to the citation below, and a few others I have ran across, the claim remained pending. I am hoping for a case that actually is on point for the VSO not being given notice, as the citation is persuasive, but not precedent. any help is appreciated. citation nr 1324624 The time for appealing either an RO or a Board decision does not run if VA failed to provide information or material critical to the appellate process. See Tablazon v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 359 (1995) (because the VA did not furnish the Veteran with a statement of the case, he was unable to file a "formal appeal" with the Board and the RO rating decision did not become final). In this case, VA failed to provide the SOC to the correct POA. Therefore, the DAV was unable to file a "formal appeal" with the Board and the November 2007 rating decision is not final. As noted below, the claim of service connection for PTSD includes depression and anxiety. In Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009), the Court found that the Board erred in not considering the scope of the Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD as including any mental disability that may reasonably be encompassed by the claimant's description of the claim, reported symptoms, and the other information of record (in that case, diagnoses of anxiety disorder and schizoid disorder). In this case, there is evidence of a diagnosis of depressive disorder, anxiety and PTSD. Hence, while the November 2007 rating decision separately addressed entitlement to service connection for PTSD and depression, the Board has now characterized the appeal as encompassing the matters set forth on the title page. And The Veteran seeks service connection for PTSD and depression. As noted above, the RO denied these claims in a November 2007 rating decision. The RO ultimately determined that the November 2007 rating decision became final because the Veteran did not submit a timely substantive appeal to the Board. Then, the RO subsequently denied the claims on a new and material basis in a September 2009 rating decision. However, as noted in the Introduction Section above, a procedural error by the RO likely resulted in the DAV's failure to provide a timely substantive appeal. As such, the November 2007 rating decision is not final, and this is an original claim for service connection. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The November 2007 rating decision is not final. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7105 (b)(West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1103 (2012).

First thing I would do is look at ALL your meds and see if any have been linked to ED, then check to see if there is anything else they can put you on, if they cant, it should be a shoo in. No BVA judge is going to rule against that, and its only about $175 a month. the VA isnt going to want to waste alot of rat er time and pay to fight it.

I dont see the rating decision, and I dont know the date of it, but like the other posters said, the VA denies 75% of all claims to see if the claimant will go away, the other 25 % that they do grant, are grossly underrated. You express that you have had some success at the BVA, so you know a little bit about how the system works. You have two options, you can do a higher Level Review, (HLR) or a supplemental claim. Both preserve your original filing date. A HLR only re-argues the original claim, you have to look in the rating criteria for skin, specifically for scars to see if you meet any of the rating criteria. If you do, then you can present that in argument. The first thing that you have to consider is if the scars are on your face, the second is if they are disfiguring, if they are not disfiguring, or cause loss of motion, that may be the basis for the denial, but simply the existance of the scars, if they were large, should have gotten you a zero service connection, which of course grants no compensation. As for a supplemental claim, that is when you get to add additional evidence. If you have to put salve on the scars and you didnt tell anyone that, its new evidence. The compensation system is set up to compensate a veteran who is seeking employment as compared to an 18 year old in perfect health. If you have to put medication on the scars, then thats something you need to state. You say you are a Combat Veteran, have you filed for PTSD or any of the secondary conditions?

 If you are in prison and a service connected veteran, irregardless of your percentage, you are only compensated at the 10% service connected rate. I think if you have dependents, the caregiver gets the full dependent rate per child. but a hundred or so dollars a month, if you didn't give it to your family, could buy lots of favors/protection.

I got out in 98, filed alll or most of my claims within the one year of discharge (some at 15 months due to a late Perian Gulf Registry examination that was requested six months after discharge.). The va denied all of my claiims even though the evidence from my SMR showed that the symptomology first appeared while I was still in Saudia Rabia. When the law changed, the va did not bother to reconsider the claims. When Shinski announced the reconsideration of the claims earlier this year, they still refused to consider them.

The differance between the number of claims submitted to the va from the Korean/Vietnam Wars vs the Persian Gulf War is directly proportional relationship to the communication of the internet. How many veterans would have been aware of 45 years ago compared to what we are aware of today. Technology will bring the va to its knees.

If what I am understanding, is that it will abolish the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, or at least pretty much any path to get there. Its also another attempt to "silently" deny claims by not adddresssing them, because the va will not have to adddress the facts of the case, thereby leaving only one issue to appeal, the issue already addressed and denied. MIW(hopefully)

Just found this today, Seems to take away part of the appeals process, according to online article "Is the VA proposing another shell game?" What yalls opinion?

Well, this is just my own opinion, (based on 12 years experiance and how I got to 90% sc for Psoriatic arthritus) but here goes, the only things the va respects (and even then only about half way) are attorneys and non va medical evidence. The va claims adjudication system is in a state of transition. Alot of their problem/process originates in the fact that they are still operating with a 1920's mentality that you are not disabled unless your limb/s are missing or dont work, your not disabled. Technology as it relates to medicine has simply passsed them by. Also, just like social security, which began as non adversarial, that to has changed. Simply put, the only way anyone is going to get anything out of the va anymore is to have a lawyer and insurance so that you can be treated by doctors outside the va. There is a differance between non va dotors and va doctors. va doctors are company doctors, they see more patients than they want to, non va doctors are trying to build practice. You have to choose which one you are going to use. Private practitioners (PP) hate patients who jump back and forth between them and the va, while the va docs could care less. I no longer tell a PP that I go to the va if I am seeing them. I very rarely discuss the Indipendent Medical Opinion (IMO) until threee or four visits and I do not say why I want it. I usually say my insurance company promoted a question about one. If I do otherwise, I state that that is my objective at the first visit, usually with a speciallist to whom I have been refered to. If they are going to crawfish, I want then to do it before they have a chance to run up a big billl. If I get it I can apply it to my claims. I can predict with a large amount of certainty that the rates have told you that they could not seee evidence of your Psoriatic arthritis in your xrays and denied the claime based on that. Psoriatic Arthritis does not show up on xrays until it becomes Psoriatic Mutaligens, and only 10% of the people who develope PA develope PM. It doesnt mean you dont have PA. As to the va RATers, simply put, I dont like them, I have never had anny SOC where they completely followed the law or applied all of the medical evidence provided with the claim. I have had them ignore, malign, and misapply clearly expressed medical evidence in any way that they could to deny claims, until it became obvious that if the claim went to the board that it would get tosssed back in their lap as the denial being ludicriss. But denials saves them (the US government) the interest on the money. And I think thats what alot of it is about. As for you decision to get a lawyer, I got myself to 90% on my own. it took me eight years. I went from 10% to 80% over night. I had a cue case and the va knew it. But they refused to grant me my back pay. I had previously tried to use the DAV. I now despise that organization because they refused to help me when I refused to join them. After I got myself to 80% I was going to have to appeal to the CAVC. This was because I had the VFW representing me, and from what I read of what they sent to the Board, it was like they asked the Board how they wanted them to write the appeal so it could be turned down before it was ever written. The VFW cannot, from what I was told, afford to retain attorneys to represent veterans. Again, I am not a member of the VFW ether. Both the DAV and the VFW get their power from the number of members that they have, IE election votes. I then decided to get an attorney. How do you find an attorny, you go to the internet, type in cavc, and click on the box that says practitioners. Did that mean that my claim was instantly solved, no but alot of the BS stopped. I dont have to deal with the stresss. Im waiting, but at this point my life wont be made any better by a lump of money. I have alot of claims, the va should have offered me TDIU when they first received my claims as to the duty to assist. But the duty to assist is just lip service. If they had I probably would have never presented another claim unless it was really important, meaning something I would die from that would effect my childrenn and wifes benefits. But no, they played the game, so now They will never get rid of me. They can deal with the frustration of dealing with my claims after Im past 100%, and if anyone thinks this really delays other veterans claims, they are fooling themselves, because the va's whole game plan is to delay any claim as long as possible, regardless of the circumstances. Dont geve up, dont get mad, dont beg (they like that-they know they are pushing your buttons) just keep pushing.

have you filed for service connection under 1118. The presumption period doesn't end til Dec 31 2011 i think.

Even if you dont have the civ records in your file, if anything in your SMR says you were refered or treated you have your foot in the door. The civ Dr remembering you makes your case even stronger. Ask them to send you a copy, or better yet, if you can see them face to face, it might trigger their own memory of having treated you.

It like everything else, its systemic, ie, once one condition arises, it causes other conditions to arise because the body is trying to compensate, but has been thrown off balance. It causes a ripple effect.

getting back to this, email never showed it was answered. Desert Sheild= troop buildup, Desert Storm Desert Storm= actual 100 hour conflict, also known as Desert Sword/Desert Sabre Desert Farewell=Liberation of Kuwait, troop drawdown, also known as Desert Calm My orders say Operation Desert Calm in support of Operation Desert Storm (I still have them.) Based upon the wording of the statement, it only applies to the 1oo hours.

I went back and looked at my records, they paid me from a 2004 award date when I reopened the claim at 80% until the time the claim was granted, $28000.00 and some change. I guess they hoped I wouldn't notice not getting the backpay, or they are making money on the interest, I dont know. Even if I know the law, it doesn't mean I have the authority to enforce it, so I just have to live with it for now.

I left 31 years ago (age 11), said I'd never go back, to many small town busybodies poking their noses in my family's business because my Mom was raising six kids on commodities and waitressing tips. Louisiana is great if you like rain, but dont eat the catfish, they are toxic. My ex step dad, Floyd, put the tank in front of the VFW. He was the Commander at the time. Me and some of my freinds were playing in it right after that. I accidentally started it up. GOD only knows what would have happened if we had put it in gear. Floyd was a welder, he welded the tophatch up so tight that even rain couldn't get into it. Hope you get to enjoy Louisisana.

Hi Larry, hows things in McKinney, I grew up on Collage Street, went to JL Greer, played "Army" in McKinney Park.

The 60% was granted to go back to 99 in 06, which also granted my 90% at that time from that time (Sep06). I appealed the decision to go back to my date of discharge Aug 98 along with numerous other claims including TDIU from date of discharge, it is currenty at the CAVC under my attorney awaiting a decision that is supposed to be given by late august. The rational given was that if TDIU or 100% otherwise was granted the va would have to readjust everything. Im not fighting it in particular because the money wont make my life any more painless. Its in my lawyers hands now.

I didn't know where to put this so here goes, hope others will add to this. Maybe a new section (Initiating new claims for those just out of service) can be made regarding this. When I originally filed my claims, I was lucky enough to have had a Dad (stepdad) who had been in the military. When he got out no one told him to file for service connection within one year of his discharge for his service connected conditions. He paid the va years for medicine to treat his service connected psoriasis. A freind of his found out what was happening to him and got the situation corrected. That freind also made sure that I filed for my conditions that arose while in service within one year. However, even though I filed for them I did not know what I was doing, what was important, and so forth. As I look back on it now, I wish someone had told me to gather all of my records, both service medical records as well as tdy records, epr's, AND any other record related to my service. And to never throw anything related to service away. (I destroyed some records in a fit of rage without knowing someone else had copied them-another story.) I wish someone had told me I would have to learn exactly what every medical acronym, greek, and latin word meant, as well as understanding how it appled to the medical record at the time. About all that spewing in my SOC that turned out to be Title 38 and what it really meant. About how to appeal all that technical spewing.

In 2006, I was SC back to 99, 60% , still havent received my backpay.

The DRO process in my opinion is a va delay tactic. These people work with each other, in the same offices, in the same grant/deny approval committees. For one rater to over-rule another raters decision (unless its something that they really really know wont fly through an appeal) violates the rule of you scratch my back/ill scratch yours. and then you have to appeal it thru the trad process anyway. get it to the board as fast as you can. I used the DRO and it cost me a year.

Id reappeal and imply that you sent it in and the va shreadeded it. See how they respond to that. you have the 2005 appeal status letter, appeal it to the board without a decision. anything to force their hand and give you some kind of actionable.

Dont forget to consider applying for other secondary conditions. I have had psoriasis since 93, it causes depression, irritable bowel syndrome/colitis, can efffect your eyes (irirsitis, uveitis, conjuctivitis) cause heart conditions, and so on. Doctors dont even connect all the dots with psoriasis. All of this is because psoriasis is an immune mediated autoimmune disorder. It effects the entire body. internet "Psoriasis takes center stage in immune mediated diseases". The more you know about your condition, the less you will have to fight the va.

Arthritis is an immune disorder. It is triggered by inflamation. doing the duck walk disrupts the normal process of walking (things are not supported as they should be) and causes inflamation. The duck walk effects every joint from the feet to the base of the skull due to the body's desire to maintain balance. This means that having flat feet can cause you to develope degenerative disc condition in your neck, a secondary service connectable condition.