Had C&p This Week

[AB2WK]

I had a c&p this week and the doc asked me if my back injury is 80% of my disability. I was lowballed with a 20% rating last year for degenerative disk disease. I applied for voc rehab and they told me I was unemployable and put me in the independent living program. I also have ms but I'm not service connected for it. In the last decision they claimed ms was the problem, not my back. At this exam he hardly mentioned ms and at the end he said " is your back injury 80% of your disability?" I told him yes. He then said "how about 70%" So I told him between 70 and 80. He shook his head yes and started typing and sent me to my next appt with a neurologist. She did a quick check of my reflexes and said she was giving me radialculpathy and leg drop for my left leg and said I should get paid for having to wear an ankle brace and using a cane. She then said my claim will only take a couple of weeks to finish and told me to stop worrying about it. My question is - can a dr give me 70% and how do they know it will be done in a couple of weeks? I was never treated so good like that before

Edited May 19, 2007 by AB2WK (see edit history)

[Pete53]

Doc can give their Medical Opinion. Its really up to the Rating Officer.

Good Luck

[jbasser]

The RO's rely a lot ont he C@P examiners. If they do their work and read the entire record then the Rating Official usually abides by what the Doc says. It is then their job to apply the Examination to the level of disability according to the schedule for rating disabilities. The Doc said 70 percent and based on the fact you are unemployable you may get IU and be paid at the 100 percent rate.

Now if you have'nt completed the IU form, you need to go ahead and do it to stay ahead of the game.Let me know and I will post the form in PDF in a reply if you need one.

John

[Testvet]

the doctors "percentage" is irrelavant what matters is what the VARO rates decides whatis the prevailing problem if he deems it to be anything other than your SC problem then your overall % is not going to be what you think it should be, if it is in your VA records that you have MS and it is not SC then your award is not going to be very high, if you are SC at 20% for DDD now I don't see how they are going to take it to a 70 or 80% rating what does the CFR give as a schedule by range of motion etc are you in a wheel chair or required to use a walker to move about? The doctor does not award percentages some clerk at the VARO uses a dart board and you better hope it's your lucky day

[Vike17]

AB2WK,

The lumbar and cervical spine are rated accordingto range of motion (how far you can bend over without pain) or incapaciatating episodes (how many weeks within the last 12 months a doctor prescribes bedrest), whichever results in the higher rating. So if you were rated last year at 20% then you either could bend over between 30 to 60 degrees or your doctor prescribed bedrest of a total 2-4 weeks with the past 12 months.

As far as the doctor saying 70%-80%, I'm willing to bet he was trying to determine the percentage amount your back contributes to your unemployability. There isn't a 70% or 80% for the lumbar or cervical spine. It is rated in steps of 10%, 20%, 30% 40%, 50%, and 100% for range of motion, and 10%, 20%, 40%, and 60% for incapaciatating episodes. The C&P examiner does not give or assign the rating percentage, the RVSR at your regional office does this.

You can also obtain a seperate rating for your "foot drop," it just depend on what nerve is damaged (either the Sciatic nerve or External popliteal nerve (common peroneal)). This is generally determined by a Nerve conduction study or EMG. The sciatic nerve is rated in stages of 10%, 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% (which is really rare). The External popliteal nerve is rated in stages of 10%, 20%, and 40%.

Hope this helps!

Vike 17

[AB2WK]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.The ms affects the 8th nerve in my brain which has to do with balance and hearing and the neuro said my back and leg problems are not due to ms. She also thinks my ms is service connected and she told me if I find a medical report showing any ms symptoms between 1977 and 1984 she will give me sc for it. The dr I was going to back then purged my medical records so I'm not able to prove it yet. I'm just hopeing and praying I get 60% or more so I can get IU. In the last c&p the dr said I can bend over 70 degrees. I don't know what he was smoking, but I would be screaming in pain if I did that. In this exam he asked me to bend over as far as I could and I told him that it hurts just standing here and the more I bend the more it hurts. He told me not to do it if it causes pain so I didn't. I didn't refuse to do it though. I'm just in shock about how nice they were, I'm not used to that from the VA.

[john999]

You might consider seeing a psychiatrist and trying to work up a claim for chronic pain disorder. Just about everyone who has chronic pain suffers from anxiety and depression. Their is a pyschological component to chronic pain. When I feel tense my chronic pain is always worse and the drugs I take for pain make me feel depressed at times. This could help your overall percentage rate. Back pain is really miserable and affects your whole mind and body.