ptsd They Denied My Nod For Retro Pay

[iraqx2]

Here is a quick summary of my situation-

When I was on 30% for PTSD for a couple years, the VA decided to call me in for an reevaluation on Dec, 2007.

A C&P was done and the a decision was made in January 2008, keeping my rating at 30% ( meaning a VA way of saying ooops, he is actually worse )

I filed an NOD in April 2008, stating that my C&P results/Dr.'s Statement was actually warranting a 70 % rating.

May 2008, they then decided to denied my request, but gave the option to file another NOD.

In November 2008 when I lost my job, I filed another NOD, which resulted in another C&P exam and also submitted new evidence from private doctor.

April 2009, a favorable decision was made giving me 70 for PTSD. I then filed another C&P stating the retro was calculated from November 2008 and should have been carried over from the original NOD from April, which was off the exam from Nov 2007.

The other day they sent a unique letter ( more like someone actually personally typed it ) stating that my NOD is invalid and my effective date was indeed when the new evidences were submitted in November. The letter also mentioned my claim for TDIU and if I wanted to drop the appeal. The tone was more like " we gave you what you wanted, now you want a bigger retro?".

They are saying that my symptoms have worsened, but only since November 2008.

I am saying ( including the results of the original C&P )that my symptoms have worsened since November 2007 and the lastest decision is a win based off the original C&P Exam in November of 2007. It should be a continuous of my original appeal. We are talking about $10k worth of retro.

What should I do now?

[iraqx2]

Yes, you are correct Philip. The 11/07 and 12/07 are the same. I wrote it up wrong. And the other was filing an " NOD ", not C&P.

Again, in November of 2007, I've received a letter stating that the VA will contact me soon for a routine " evaluation ". A week later, I got an appointment notice to see the C&P doc. I went to the C&P doc in early Dec and he wrote up a report. From that report, they made a decision to keep me at 30%, which I was at since 2005. You see, I did not initiate anything, they did, so I used their own evaluation to file an NOD. Bottomline was, it was an attempt to reduce my rating.

I will gather the paperwork and scan it to you via PM.

I hope people reading this is tracking my story.

Have a wonderful Memorial Holiday!!

[Philip Rogers]

iraqx2 - I understand the 11/07 thing was an attempt to reduce your award. They do that sometimes and sometimes it costs them for trying. You'll need to refute their rating by showing that you should have been rated higher, at that time. Inferring that you are worse now only confuses the issue. I'll be waiting for those documents.

pr

Yes, you are correct Philip. The 11/07 and 12/07 are the same. I wrote it up wrong. And the other was filing an " NOD ", not C&P.

Again, in November of 2007, I've received a letter stating that the VA will contact me soon for a routine " evaluation ". A week later, I got an appointment notice to see the C&P doc. I went to the C&P doc in early Dec and he wrote up a report. From that report, they made a decision to keep me at 30%, which I was at since 2005. You see, I did not initiate anything, they did, so I used their own evaluation to file an NOD. Bottomline was, it was an attempt to reduce my rating.

I will gather the paperwork and scan it to you via PM.

I hope people reading this is tracking my story.

Have a wonderful Memorial Holiday!!

[Ricky]

What you are running into is what a lot of vets face in an appeal.

They are going to standfast on the fact that the 07 exam only equated to a 30 percent rating.

If you look at your IMO I bet it speaks in the present tense... big mistake. If you were thinking of an 07 award date for the 70 percent the IMO should have attacked the 07 exam and opined that this doc's opinion was that the 07 examiner was wrong as to the level of disability and it is his opinion that your current level of disability was present during the 07 exam......

An IMO of this type for a mental disability is kind of hard to get. However, for a physical disability it is kind of easy.

So when you gave them the IMO and it said he examined you and you suffered from x and x and x etc..... he was saying that as of the date he examined you (08) your level of disability was x which they agreed with and awarded you the 70 percent. So in laymen's terms you gave them what they needed to screw you. KEEP IN MIND they are the ones who have the almighty power of providing weight to a piece of evidence and if they say the 07 exam only warranted a 30 percent rating then that is it UNLESS you can get a doc to say the 07 examiner was wrong.

We need to keep in mind that when dealing with appeals (NODs) and we submit new evidence during the process IT needs to address your condition as of the day you submitted your original claim......... if not then you give them wiggle room and when that happens they take it and run smiling all the way.

During my appeal process each of my new IMO's began with or had somewhere in the body the statement "since Jan 04 the patient suffered from.......".

Now you can surely keep the appeal process going for the eed but I see no way to win especially if the argument hinges on the interpertation of medical evidence as your interpertation means nothing to the VA and theirs is the golden rule. As I said above the only way to get around it is to have a doc attack the 07 report.......and on a mental condition it will hard to do. The reason is that in the rating game medical evidence on mental issues is so subjective and based solely on what the doc saw that day during the exam..... there are no MRI's, xrays etc.... to back up (rationale) the current doc's opinion

Just my opinion........ Good luck with your efforts.

Edited May 30, 2009 by Clown Man

[iraqx2]

Clown Man,

Yes, you absolutely have a good point and is likely the reason why the VA is screwing me. The effective date is actually the same as the IMO's date . This whole thing is subjective. The way I see is that it was a continuation of my appeals. I disagree on the result from a certain date and they eventually agreed, a year later. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

The local law school has a program to help VETS with their claim. I think I need to pay them a visit.

Thank you so much for you valuable input.

PS- Hey Philip Rogers ( if you are reading this ), I am still working on scanning 50 pages of notes for you. I hope to get that done soon.

[Philip Rogers]

iraqx2 - Hey you're still alive - yup, still waiting. Had about given up on you. If you want you can fax or email w/attachment, if easier. Just a thought!

pr

Clown Man,

Yes, you absolutely have a good point and is likely the reason why the VA is screwing me. The effective date is actually the same as the IMO's date . This whole thing is subjective. The way I see is that it was a continuation of my appeals. I disagree on the result from a certain date and they eventually agreed, a year later. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

The local law school has a program to help VETS with their claim. I think I need to pay them a visit.

Thank you so much for you valuable input.

PS- Hey Philip Rogers ( if you are reading this ), I am still working on scanning 50 pages of notes for you. I hope to get that done soon.

[carlie]

iraqx2,

On the rating decision that granted the 70 % SC - what did VA

say about TDIU ?

carlie