Need Help

[*Bergie*]

In 1989 or 1990 I applied for comensation for pain in my neck, knees and ankles. The claim was denied because "nothing in my medical record supported the claim". I did not receiv a exal/exam xrays nothing. Last year I had to have surgery for worsening pain to my left ankle that caused a limp. The doctor thought she was just going to "clean out the joint". However she found and repaired a 10mm tear. Now keep in mind that I was in the 82nd airborne and made several jumps , the only thing in my medical record is complaints of sprained/twisted ankle. Can I now after 20 years re-open the claim wioth the new findings?

Respectfully,

Michael

[carlie]

Bergie

Sharon and allan have given some great info here.

You can re-open a claim with NEW & MATERIAL evidence.

If the claim is granted due to the NEW & MATERIAL evidence,

the effective date should be the date of the re-opened claim.

Cue claims can only weigh the evidence of record at the time

that rating decision was promulgated.

Now there are (as usual) even variables for this.

If there are some SMR's that should of been of record in the

prior decision and they were lost - they also can help get an EED.

The first thing to shoot for is to get the disability SC'd.

jmho,

carlie

[poolguy11550]

Whenever one is thinking about reopening a claim, the first thing to think about is why the claim was denied. What words did the R/O state for the denial. In this case, the statement was "nothing in the veterans medical records supported the claim". If this were my claim, I would do the following:

1. get a copy of my SMR's and find the medical evidence.

2. Search the web for medical connections that parachutist have a higher rate of knee, ankle, and/or other conditions.

A. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa39...07/ai_n8866150/

B. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlere...i?artid=1730230

C. http://books.google.com/books?id=ub_AakWty...lt&resnum=8

3. I would connect the many jumps made while in service to the current medical conditions.

4. Write a good lay statement that describes your pain and other issues from the time that you left service to the current date and get others (wife/husband) to write a statement also.

As Carlie stated, I would seek the S/C first and afterwords seek the CUE if such evidence was clearly ignored.