I do not want this to sound like a NOD at this time. I would like to send a letter with the TDIU Form and a letter from my doctor.
Does this sound alright?
To the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Subject: Claim for TDIU
I have asked the R.O to adjudicate my NOD for headaches and shall expect same rating as you may use the same medical information used to decide the February 27, 2004 claim effective June 26, 2003.
The NSC Pension, February 27, 2004 effective June 26, 2003 states 50% for chronic anxiety and 10% for headaches.
The time frame for submitting the form should be tolled - as the TDIU claim would still be pending - in that they had the "inferred" claim.
I am requesting Un-employability TDIU with an Earlier Effective Date.
I am sending the VA another copy of the TDIU form completed to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Had it not been for the Negligence of the VA to acquire my psychiatric records from the St Louis archives upon my first filing date, my claim would not had been so impossible to establish service connection. I am requesting the VA to accept the Certified letter from Social Security pertaining to my work history.
Please read.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
00-7009
HOWARD F. ROBERSON, Claimant-Appellant,
v.
ANTHONY J. PRINCIPI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-Appellee.
"Once a veteran submits evidence of a medical disability and makes a claim for the highest rating possible, and additionally submits evidence of un-employability, the “identify the benefit sought” requirement of 38 C.F.R. § 3.155(a) is met and the VA must consider TDIU. The VA must consider TDIU because, in order to develop a claim “to its optimum” as mandated by Hodge, the VA must determine all potential claims raised by the evidence, applying all relevant laws and regulations, regardless of whether the claim is specifically labeled as a claim for TDIU.
These decisions have made a big impact on how VA disability claims are handled, giving veterans more chances to get benefits and clearing up important issues.
Service Connection
Frost v. Shulkin (2017)
This case established that for secondary service connection claims, the primary service-connected disability does not need to be service-connected or diagnosed at the time the secondary condition is incurred 1. This allows veterans to potentially receive secondary service connection for conditions that developed before their primary condition was officially service-connected.
Saunders v. Wilkie (2018)
The Federal Circuit ruled that pain alone, without an accompanying diagnosed condition, can constitute a disability for VA compensation purposes if it results in functional impairment 1. This overturned previous precedent that required an underlying pathology for pain to be considered a disability.
Effective Dates
Martinez v. McDonough (2023)
This case dealt with the denial of an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) 2. It addressed issues around the validity of appeal withdrawals and the consideration of cognitive impairment in such decisions.
I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful. We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did. He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims. He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file. It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to 1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015. It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me. He didn't want my copies. Anyone have any information on this. Much thanks in advance.
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.
Question
Josephine
I do not want this to sound like a NOD at this time. I would like to send a letter with the TDIU Form and a letter from my doctor.
Does this sound alright?
To the Department of Veterans Affairs:
Subject: Claim for TDIU
I have asked the R.O to adjudicate my NOD for headaches and shall expect same rating as you may use the same medical information used to decide the February 27, 2004 claim effective June 26, 2003.
The NSC Pension, February 27, 2004 effective June 26, 2003 states 50% for chronic anxiety and 10% for headaches.
The time frame for submitting the form should be tolled - as the TDIU claim would still be pending - in that they had the "inferred" claim.
I am requesting Un-employability TDIU with an Earlier Effective Date.
I am sending the VA another copy of the TDIU form completed to the best of my knowledge and belief.
Had it not been for the Negligence of the VA to acquire my psychiatric records from the St Louis archives upon my first filing date, my claim would not had been so impossible to establish service connection. I am requesting the VA to accept the Certified letter from Social Security pertaining to my work history.
Please read.
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
00-7009
HOWARD F. ROBERSON, Claimant-Appellant,
v.
ANTHONY J. PRINCIPI, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Respondent-Appellee.
DECIDED: May 29, 2001
In March of 1989, 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 was amended to add subsection ©, stating: “in cases in which the only compensable service-connected disability is a mental disorder assigned a seventy percent evaluation, and such mental disorder precludes a veteran from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation . . . the mental disorder shall be assigned a 100 percent evaluation under the appropriate diagnostic code.”
"Once a veteran submits evidence of a medical disability and makes a claim for the highest rating possible, and additionally submits evidence of un-employability, the “identify the benefit sought” requirement of 38 C.F.R. § 3.155(a) is met and the VA must consider TDIU. The VA must consider TDIU because, in order to develop a claim “to its optimum” as mandated by Hodge, the VA must determine all potential claims raised by the evidence, applying all relevant laws and regulations, regardless of whether the claim is specifically labeled as a claim for TDIU.
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