Epts Seperaton

[sehinchee]

I injured my knee in basic training. I had arthroscopic surgery that revealed a torn ACL and torn meniscus. Since I had not been in 180 days, and told them I sprained my knee prior to enlisting, I was seperated as EPTS not service agervated. The army told me this is a pre existing injury that was not agervated while in service, so no disability. Fast forward 20+years and a total knee replacement. On the advise of a college professor, I filed a claim with the VA. The VA has granted me service connection for this injury. Is there any way to get retro pay for some of the 20+years that I missed because they lied to me?

[Chuck75]

Who is "they"? It's unlikely, but you should talk to a lawyer. If "they" is the Army and they obviously and deliberately misdiagnosed, or you can prove that they deliberately lied to prevent payment, you may have a case. It might have to meet the standards for criminal fraud.

I injured my knee in basic training. I had arthroscopic surgery that revealed a torn ACL and torn meniscus. Since I had not been in 180 days, and told them I sprained my knee prior to enlisting, I was seperated as EPTS not service agervated. The army told me this is a pre existing injury that was not agervated while in service, so no disability. Fast forward 20+years and a total knee replacement. On the advise of a college professor, I filed a claim with the VA. The VA has granted me service connection for this injury. Is there any way to get retro pay for some of the 20+years that I missed because they lied to me?

[Pete53]

The only way to go back prior to your last filing is to prove that the VA made a Clear and Unmistakable Error. You have to really go over all the records carefully.

Personally I doubt that you will be able to pull it off but you should still try. Its a lot of money.

[john999]

If you try and get it from the Army you can probably forget it. They have time limits on just about everything since you should have gotten a medical discharge. There is a 15 year limit on discharge reviews. You have to get their permission for an appeal. Not likely. When did you file the VA claim? Was it within a year of discharge? You should talk to a lawyer who does this kind of thing. See if it is worth the effort.

[sehinchee]

I injured my knee in 1986. I filed a VA clain in August of 2007. Even though my DD214 state "EPTS not service agerveted - no disability", after looking at the SMR's the VA has granted me 30% disability. There is no evidence the injury existed prior to service. I was 18 at the time, and when the Army said no disability, I never questioned it unitll a college professor encouraged me to file. I don't even want to think about how much money this would add up to.

[sehinchee]

Can anyone suggest a lawyer in the central Florida area?

[Berta]

"I injured my knee in 1986. I filed a VA clain in August of 2007. Even though my DD214 state "EPTS not service agerveted - no disability", after looking at the SMR's the VA has granted me 30% disability. There is no evidence the injury existed prior to service. I was 18 at the time, and when the Army said no disability, I never questioned it unitll a college professor encouraged me to file. I don't even want to think about how much money this would add up to."

They probably gave you the correct amount of retro.

You filed the claim on August 2007- so the retro money goes back to that date.

In most cases the EED -earliest entitlement date- is the date the claim was filed.

If the August 2007 claim was you first claim-there is no way- even under a CUE claim -to retrieve any more retro.

Since you can file a NOD after the June 20,2007 regs -you can obtain a lawyer- go to the NOVA web site or just Google for lawyers in your area who are accreditted to handle VA claims.

I assume you want to NOD the percent they gave you?