Opinions Needed To

[Berta]

The VA just told me all of my main issues -AO death, and 2 SMC CUEs went to the DRO this AM.

I thought this was odd.

I sent in a DRO election form on the 2 CUE claims on Sept 17th,2007 reminding VA that the reconsideration request I had filed a year ago was still in process and the NOD had been filed in June.

It took over a year for me to get my 2005 DRO review o my AO death claim-and it was a sameo sameo so I asked them to CUE it and they gave me a DRO conference immediatly but with my POA -who screwed that all up-

I wonder why the DRO has all my claims again-?

I sent a letter on the recent VCAA letter I received but pointed out that it was sole one I ever got that complied with the VCAA-

and that this is why my claim was remanded so fast from the BVA last year.

I sent again (for about tenth time) my IMOs,with this letter to RO and also copied them to the back of the SMC DRO request form- even though they arent involved with those claims-

and I raised many regulations they broke for 4 1/2 years that I want finally applied to my claims.I pasted the exact citations from M21-1 and 38 CFR etc into the letter.

They got all this from me on Sept 12th 2007-

it was given to a "case worker" from adjudication that same day -and it all went to the DRO today.

Would this kick back to the initial DRO request I made in 2004 and maybe this time they will do it right?

Any thoughts?

[Berta]

forgot to add-

I told VA in my recent letter that I could -with the proper AO decisions based on my unrebutted preponderant medical evidence -that I could withdraw all of my other issues except for the SMC CUE claims- fully supported by legal evidence.

It makes no sense to me for them to be trying to re-open a claim that is the weakest claim (the one I got my sole legal VCAA letter on weeks ago) when the strongest claim has been pending for over 4 1/2 years and has the most medical evidence to award.and is on remand from the BVA.

The Rep at 800# said the DRO only had the AO death claim and the 2 CUEs.

Maybe someone there went to night school and learned how to read.

[carlie]

Berta,

How do you feel about over-nighting a request for a face to face hearing with the DRO and following it up with an Iris request. My feelings are that if you don't get in there and present your evidence in a chronological order, then the DRO is going to rubber-stamp the prior decisions.

Also, they probably don't have all of the evidence you've sent so they haven't considered some of it at all. I have found it to be true that in much of the paperwork I have submitted and received back from VA, that it's a real pain in the azz for both the VA & the Claimant to keep up with the evidence that VA states has been submitted.

Between the Listings of:

1) The Evidence listed on the Original Rating Decision.

2) The NOD & additional evidence the claimant submits.

3) The Evidence listed in the SOC.

4) The Evidence listed from a DRO Hearing.

5) The Evidence listed in the SSOC.

Years transpire during all of the above.

I sure wish everytime VA sent the claimant an answer they would include a complete list of the All Evidence, that was considered in relation to the current Decision being made.

But hell no - that would be make sense!

Now also, when you take each claim into consideration as in the above - then start breaking that down into multiple issues such as:

1) Diagnostic Code XXX

a) percentage granted

b) effective date

2) Diagnostic Code XXX

a) percentage granted

b) effective date

3) Diagnostic Code XXX

a) percentage granted

b) effective date

Another thing I find very aggravating is when the claimant submitts Evidence for a certain Issue and VA doesn't even list that Evidence in the Decision that deals with that Issue BUT instead VA DOES LIST THAT EVIDENCE on a Decision concerning a completely Different Issue.

I feel this to be a MAJOR REASON for such a tremendous backlog with the VA system.

Once a rater looks at the Blue Sheet from the last Decision made -- that's it -- they just refuse to go any deeper into the claimant's file, therefor they never find the truth in the Evidence that is in fact, contained in the file.

Does anyone understand what I am saying here -- and do you find this relevant to the claims process ?

jmho,

carlie

[carlie]

Berta,

You posted, "The Rep at 800# said the DRO only had the AO death claim and the 2 CUEs."

Have you gone thru your paperwork in chronological order to see exactly everything the DRO

should currently have for consideration ? All paperwork, NOD's, 21-4138's, IMO's, Evidence,

everything you had submitted (around the same time frame that the AO death claim and the

2 CUE's) that VA states is currently before the DRO, I fell should be - being considered with this DRO.

Hope this makes sense.

jmho,

carlie

[Berta]

Thanks Carlie- I was told yesterday that the DRO has the AO claim and the 2 CUE claims- and the medical evidence-as of Oct 3rd.(these are my main issues) and that the DRO will deal directly with me- by email or phone.

I have the DRO job description on my PC and it clearly states what the DRO is supposed to do.It will not be the same DRO I had in 2005.

This happened in response to my September reply to them. I used the election form they sent me in late August regarding a old CUE I had denied at the BVA which the RO is trying to re-open.

I incorporated my main issues and evidence into my election response as it was the only one I had received from the RO since filing clams back to Jan 2003.

I was thrilled to get it although it was on the wrong claim but they have to deal with it.

This Sept response to the VA I made is what triggered my POA to drop me.

It reveals their incompetence.They are angry because I got a NYSDVA rep in July to actually read the letter I got in 2003 and he immediately said it was not a legal VCAA letter.

They have insisted for 4 years that it was.

You have to actually read it to see that it is not.

Also every effort they made to make me think the RO rejected my initial Nov 2004 IMO from Dr. Bash has been proven wrong by established VA case law and VA's own statements in the SSOC of 2005.The VA has never seen this IMO until 2 weeks ago.It went to an adjuducator and then to the DRO Wednesday .I have email from the RO that after numerous submissions it disappeared from my files.I made sure that I attached the August 2006 IMO again too.

I cited VA case laws in my response and asked that they be applied to my claim.

But this response to RO is what will finally get my claims resolved-I have no doubt of that.

[carlie]

Berta,

You posted, "I was told yesterday that the DRO has the AO claim and the 2 CUE claims- and the medical evidence-as of Oct 3rd.(these are my main issues) and that the DRO will deal directly with me- by email or phone. "

I wish they'd put that in writing to you. I have the DRO job description also, question is, HOW DO YOU GET THE DRO TO DO THEIR JOB ?????

Their job description entails quite a bit and I sure haven't seen many cases where they follow it.

Berta, can you give me some feedback about what I posted to you about submitting evidence and if you see this as a problem also ?

carlie

[Stretch]

Carlie,

I have had the VA look at evidence in one claim, and then use other evidence in a different claim. It seems like the DRO was admitting what they wanted or would accept for different claims.

After I went to the BVA; back to the AMC; then to DRO, the evidence was finally looked at. The BVA judge request complete SMC records (which would suggest they were reading partial records prior to BVA), and he requested other records which had not been allowed in the prior DRO review.

Also the BVA said that the claims were all interwoven with each other and should be viewed from that point of view. Then the VA resent the CVAA letter to me.

I am sure that it makes a difference in the claims process, if different evidence is not allowed.