Evidence Of A Prolonged Period Without Medical Complaint

[Domepeace]

I've seen and read cases that are denied because of:

"Evidence of a prolonged period without medical complaint and the amount of time that elapsed since military service, can be considered as evidence against a claim."

I would like to know any thoughts on how to combat this. I'm not sure if stating that a veteran cannot afford health insurance is a viable answer. I'm curious to know, what would be considered a prolonged period; one year, five years?

Thanks,

Domepeace

[Jayg]

There are a number of reasons for a gap in records. I have had a history of back problems. In the 80s I went the rounds of chiropractors. Unfortunately, the two I saw have expunged their records. Ergo, "no record of complaint." I did get a number of letters from people I knew, neighbors, family, that could attest to my back troubles. Weak, often discounted, but they're sometimes better than nothing.

I too have not sought health care when needed because I had no insurance and cannot afford it. It happens.

Another reason to not have a record of care, and I did cite this, is employer bias. Back problems in particular can get expensive. If you establish a pattern of back problems, you can suddenly find yourself in an unemployment line- but not for your health problems! Never that!! But you came to work late one day, made an error in your job... anything will do. My last company was notorious for it. If your back went out or you other wise hurt yourself on the job, you had best not report it! You either "got the flu" or had to take a week off for a "death in the family," things like that. I was having problems keeping my footing and walking any distance (I worked in a large plant) and took to using a stick to get around. I was quietly warned that could get me ousted. Then I fell a couple of times and even though I didn't report any injury I was written up. During a work slow down, I was one of those laid off. But that didn't help either because the reason given was strictly "economical."

In that time period I had one treatment record for my knee and none for my back. I used to just call my doctor and he would prescribe a muscle relaxer. I guess he didn't keep records of those things very long because they weren't in my records from him.

So very nearly the only thing I can offer are 'buddy letters."

It makes for hard going. :o

[Vync]

Go back and try to re-visit some of the doctors who treated you. Hopefully, they will not have retired yet and might still remember you, especially if they treated you for an extended duration. It may be possible for them to write a statement indicating they treated you and their diagnosis. It's better than nothing.

[Teac]

I think it is going to depend on the type of disease or injury you are talking about. I have read many BVA cases where the BVA has said, " Medical care is not a requirement to prove service connection".

Now for example, ( and not to get graphic) just before I retired from service in 1986 I started having problems using the toilet.. I went home on terminal leave and before I know it every time I used the toilet I was cleaning blood off my rear. It got so bad that it hurt when I walked. I finally made a 90 minute trip to Fort Devens to get medical treatment at 5 in the evening. I learned that I had a small hemorrhiod. With that knowledge I felt better, at least it wasn't serious enought for me to worry about, it hurt like hell, and was literally a pain in the a$$ , but it was not going to kill me. The problem would come and go for years.. and I never really thought about it much. Later much later I had a colonscopy done and the hemorrhoid was mentioned in the report. Later still I was reviewing my medical records to find evidence of sinusits, when I came across the first entry of treatment for this hemorrhoid. I realized then that I had a valid claim of benefits, but I was not sure I could prove it since I was not treated for it over the years..after all once you know how to take care of this problem you just learn to live with it.. I decided what the heck, and put the claim in. I was granted 10% in 2004. Now that means that was 18 years after I retired, and the only medical evidence I had was that first treatment when I was on terminal leave, and colonscopy reports over the years. I didn't have any doctor statement indicating a NEXUS, I really had nothing.

So too make a long story short you do not always have to prove treatment.. You just have to prove when the problem started and that you still have a problem.

Oh.. I have a few other problems that I had very little medical evidence for. And I also received service connection for those problems too.

Edited November 16, 2009 by Teac

[Vync]

Hey Teac,

I am also SC for sinusitis, but was granted based on a five year appeal right after I got out.

An issue like DDD is a bit different. I posted a link to a BVA case where a guy got SC for DDD 20 years after having a single back injury, despite having any real concrete medical evidence at all. I have a lot of evidence, then a gap, then a whole lot more evidence. The VA acknowledges I have DDD, but simply say it is not SC. It basically is a crap shoot sometimes and the appeal continues.

Also, Berta indicated that there was medical evidence a mile long in her claim, but the VA simply did not bother to read it.