ptsd Deceased Veteran Widows Pay

[banchie]

Hi Brothers & Sisters. My life has improved so much thanks to all of you! A slight tear there, sorry.

;)

One of my brother veterans died with his power of attorney assigned to his wife. He was wounded in Nam in the leg and received disability benefits for leg wounds & PTSD. He died of cancer before I could get him A/O connected (was filing the paperwork on presumption). His rate for leg wounds never increased over his lifetime.

The VA has since cut his wife off from any VA benefits. Is this correct? Here is a women who endured a PTSD veteran, and cared for him dying of cancer in her home. Is she entitled to anything? Pension or VA compensation coupled to power of attorney?

Thanks for your help in advance. Banchie VN 67-68'

[Berta]

I had to send Dep Sec Mansfiled a letter enclosing my IMOs asking him to submit these to the VARO since they have never acknowledged them properly.

Then I got a CUE decision and the DRO listed the IMOs as evidence for my CUE claims and they have NOTHING to do with the CUE claim- ALL of my LEGAL evidence (which is what a CUE depends on) was never listed or considered so I had to write to the VSM and tell them that again-the IMOs are not being properly consider for or associated with the very claim they were supposed to be for-

In numerous Irises since 2006(although I only use Iris once every 8 weeks or so-I have clearly referred to these IMOS as specifically for my AO death claim.

I am sorry you are so frustrated and I have had years of prior VA experience too that was sameo sameo-

my important evidence was always lost or misplaced.

I have already prepared my next battle plan if needed but

I suggest that you send your IMO with a letter to this RO's director., with CC to the VBA in WAshington DC- and maybe that will get you somewhere-

This is the job of vet reps and SOS to get stuff like this straightened out-

and many of them are too plain lazy assed to try to square this stuff away.

Make sure you refer to and send the VBA a copy of the enclosed Iris (and make sure the letter to the RO director has it CC: on the bottom of the letter-

[judy1]

Berta and others,

FINALLY yesteday I received another email (after I "added" to my Iris of two weeks prior--telling them that they did NOT answer my question regarding receipt of the IMO) this one finally acknowledges "we have received your Medical Opinion and it has been integrated into your claim file".... WHEW! You mean at last they actually ADMIT having the IMO? WOW.

It does however appear that they are considering this a "new reopened" claim (even though I filed a NOD on the most recent Denial!) and that garbage I don't understand at all. I filed the NOD; sent the IMO and the NOD requested "reconsideration under normal conditions" and they APPEAR to be ignoring that fact completely.

I don't honestly know if they will now be "reconsidering" or if I must wait another year because they are treating it as "new and material evidence" and a "newly reopened" claim ...??... heck if I know. Do they even know?

I did not yet send any of this to BVA; should I?

thanks,

Judy

[judy1]

By the way; I still have not had one word of communication from this sorry DSO; American Legion Houston RO. Every correspondence I receive from VARO says "CC: name of this DSO--AL" and not a word from him to me!!!

This is a travesty; I have no one representing me it seems....guess I'm on my own.

Judy

[Berta]

Judy-I dont see anything here that means you should be sending anything to the BVA-

The VARO will send you a letter when the claim is transferred to the BVA- but they still have to acknowledge your medical opinion first and if they dont award the claim at that point- they will send you a Statement of the Case.

I dont understand why they are saying you have "re-opened" the claim.As long as you responded to any of their letters and filed the NOD within one year after last denial-that doesnt make sense to me.

But the most important part for the time being is whether the VA will be able to combat your IMO with their own medical opinion.

Even so- if the weight of one negative opinion is balanced by one strong medical opinion- this is Relative Equipoise and the claimant is supposed to succeed.

BUT the VA owns the scale-

In my case I was very disturbed by the fact that the RO ignored my first IMO from Dr. BAsh.

They not only ignored it completely but my rep told me he presented it to the DRO during a DRO conference and it would be considered.

Instead (based on his suggestion not the VA's) the DRO ordered a VA med opinion.

I obtained another IMO from Dr. Bash attacking this VA IMO.

So far the VA has ignored the second IMO too.

In addition to the IMos I had a preponderance of additional medical evidence from the clinical record to support my claim as well as the fact I keep reminding VA of- Rod is dead due to VA malpractice anyhow so how could any VA doctor opine on his death with any credibility at all.

VA owns the scale they weigh the evidence on.

Of course the 'scale'isnt real and it all boils down to a rater's impression of the medical evidence-for and against a claim.

Is your IMO fully supportive of your claim?

Are there any weak spots or landmines to the claim that the VA could use against you?

Were there any gray areas in your IMO that might be explained at this point with more evidence?

For example-In one part of his IMO Dr. Bash mentioned my husband's diabetes was undiagnosed but evident back to 1988 and he based this on the clinical record and conversations he had with me.

I feel that the VA could pounce on the 'conversations with me' part so I sent the VA exactly what he meant-the earliest manifestations of diabetes that were documented in Rod's VA med recs, that the VA had ignored in 1988 as well as in 1992.

Also I could back this part up with testimony from an EEOC case Rod had against the VA.

Also although Dr. BAsh used prime medical treatises for the main part of his IMO, I too sent VA my own abstracts and treatises that associated his clinical record with undiagnosed diabetes.

I guess my point is- as long as the IMO is very strong-you could hope that VA will weigh it properly.

But it pays to look for any loopholes or landmines now-

before some so called VA expert finds them and they deny the claim on the expert's statements.

[Berta]

I checked back on the older posts you had made-this IS a re-opened claim for DIC-

Also it appears Dr. Bash saw 1151 potential and the rep had re-opened under Sec 1151 as well I believe- and both saw potential of CUE regarding a way to get DIC under 1310 and you mentioned you were making Dr. Bash aware of my posts to you on the claim on OCt 2007.

I have no idea if you or the former rep pursued the 1151 potential or the CUE claim.

It is not unusual not to hear from a SO or rep.I think you just have to wait for the VA to contact you after they consider the IMO.

[judy1]

"I checked back on the older posts you had made-this IS a re-opened claim for DIC-

Also it appears Dr. Bash saw 1151 potential and the rep had re-opened under Sec 1151 as well I believe- and both saw potential of CUE regarding a way to get DIC under 1310 and you mentioned you were making Dr. Bash aware of my posts to you on the claim on OCt 2007."

YES, this is correct/

"I have no idea if you or the former rep pursued the 1151 potential or the CUE claim."

NO, both the DSO and Dr. Bash said to wait on the 1151 as our initial and primary goal was to go for DIC and we had/have a very strong case.

"It is not unusual not to hear from a SO or rep.I think you just have to wait for the VA to contact you after they consider the IMO."

"I dont understand why they are saying you have "re-opened" the claim.As long as you responded to any of their letters and filed the NOD within one year after last denial-that doesnt make sense to me."

The problem and my question here is this: From October 2007 this IS indeed a "reopened claim"; however..... in my March 2008 SSOC and subsequent denial by VARO, they did not even acknowledge the Bash IMO...they said they received "no new and material evidence to reconsider this DIC claim".... so now.... it "appears" to me that they CLOSED this claim (I say that because the NOD I sent went unacknowledged and when I IRIS'd them to see if they HAD the IMO and failed to mention/consider it, they said "we have no record of this pending claim"!!! My next IRIS they denied ever having received the IMO or ANYTHING from the AL DSO either.

Now, they say in the form letter I received September 11, 2008 "We are in receipt of your claim for DIC and there is no need to contact us ...blah blah blah" the standard form letter one receives when opening or reopening a claim. Also my newest IRIS says "we have your MO and it has been incorporated into your file and is now a part of your claim"....

I really don't see where they acknowedged my NOD which requested a "reconsideration under normal conditions".... I simply don't know where the heck we are right now (in the process/procedure of things I mean). This just becomes more convoluted with each move.

"Is your IMO fully supportive of your claim?"

Absolutely it is!

"Are there any weak spots or landmines to the claim that the VA could use against you?"

Not that I as layman can find; Bash even quoted blood pressure on certain dates, triglyceride counts on specific dates, meds used which elevated those, he quoted right from the vet's med recs for the most part.

"Were there any gray areas in your IMO that might be explained at this point with more evidence?"

I guess that remains to be seen but I don't recall any.

I suppose I should dig into the IMO and think deeply on all my med recs to see if I should perhaps send them anything I have. Wouldn't this further delay the case?

I am truly confused as to where I stand.

Judy