Nod Not Yet Under Review

[Ron II]

Situation

1. I filed a NOD that likely will be reviewed in March 2008 at the earliest.

2. The NOD petains to a heart condition where the VA rated at 10% METs. I was not given a stress test. I was assigned a METs level of 7 which equals 10%.

3. My one and only stress test, done more than 12 months prior to the filing of the claim, showed

my MEPs as 6.2 which equates to 20%.

4. My stress test with a private doctor has been moved up to December 26th. The results should be available in the first week of January 2008.

5. I intend to forward the results to the DRO as soon as they are received. I assume they will show MEPs of 6.2 or lower. In any case, I intend to forward the results.

Questions

If the earlier stress test results are deemed too old (i.e., more than 12 months) to substantiate a higher rating, could the new results be used during the NOD review as justification for a higher rating?

I ask this question since the new results would not have been in the file, so the term "notice of disagreement" seems inaccurate. Or...am I just too concerned about semantics?

[Pete53]

I believe that before the VA pays on this one that you can expect another stress test and a visit to a cardiac C&P

[Ron II]

I believe that before the VA pays on this one that you can expect another stress test and a visit to a cardiac C&P

As I just posted in another message, my results were normal during the nuclear stress test so the NOD is probably dead. They didn't measure my METs, but I suspect the normal reading warrants only the 10% I receive for a cardiac pacemaker. Thank you for your help and advice.

[cowgirl]

Manitou. Did I read your post correctly, 10% for cardiac pacemaker? Hope you dont mind if I ask, does that rating include any scarring? best to ya, cg

As I just posted in another message, my results were normal during the nuclear stress test so the NOD is probably dead. They didn't measure my METs, but I suspect the normal reading warrants only the 10% I receive for a cardiac pacemaker. Thank you for your help and advice.

[Ron II]

Manitou. Did I read your post correctly, 10% for cardiac pacemaker? Hope you dont mind if I ask, does that rating include any scarring? best to ya, cg

Hi,

It is the lowest rating possible for implantation of a cardiac pacemaker. To my knowledge, there was no scarring. I submitted my NOD due to what I think was a low-ball on the METs factor (last measured at 6.2, but the VA said it was 7 METs--without testing for it).

Heck it might turn out that the rating is correct; my nuclear stress test showed no abnormalities. I have an echocardiogram next week...

Ron