Hello, all. I am new here at posting tho I am a regular who appreciates all I learned from everyone. My husband and I are going at it with our VARO over ann EED but it gets complicated.
While active duty husband has chronic complaints and is (mis)diagnosed. All documented in his service records, including receiving medication for infection when ther were no signs of infection
on numerous occassions. Making matters worse, he suffered an injury while active duty just prior to retirement.
Husband retires from active duty in mid 1990's, files for benefits with the VA, claims all symptoms related to the the (mis)diagnosis. Receives SC for all with 0% compensation for all symptoms and is still (mis)diagnosed.
His symptoms worsen over the years to the point that I thought he was dying. At this point our local VA hospital finally diagnoses him correctly. YEAH! (No, he was not dying but he does have a disease that is managed with the proper medication).
We filed a claim with the VARO. It was initally denied. Got an IMO which was very favorable for us. The doc even stated that hubby's active duty medical records clearly showed that he had been misdiagnosed since the 1980's. We turned the IMO in to the VARO. They sent it to the VA hospital for a written medical opinion.
A VA specialist initally wrote a medical opinion. I called her to ensure that she had read his medical records back to the mid-1980's, which she stated she had not. She asked a lot of questions which I answered. She then told me that she was restating her inital opinion as she had only went to the date of the injury just prior to my husbands retirement. She stated that his records clearly showed that he had been misdiagnosed by both active duty doctors and by the VA doctors as well. She restated her initial medical opinion and corrected it to the propre diagnosis and documented the years long misdiagnosis.
This resulted in a SC for 60% on the correct diagnosis but the ED is for Jan 08, when we filed the claim on the correct diagnosis.
We filed for a reconsideration as the VARO did not consider the VA specialists corrected medical opinion. We were denied.
We filed for an in-person de novo with a DRO.
Here is the kicker;
We went to the de novo. At hearing, almost at the end, the DRO stated that he was the one that had denied my husbands reconsideration.
We received another denial of EED, of course. The VARO filed for an Advisiory Opinion. And you probabaly guessed it, the evidence submitted by the VARO was not factual and they left out the amended medical opinion and did not submit the medical records from dating back to the 1980's.
What steps do we take? Is he eligible for an EED or are we just wishful thinkers?
Question
blue12
Hello, all. I am new here at posting tho I am a regular who appreciates all I learned from everyone. My husband and I are going at it with our VARO over ann EED but it gets complicated.
While active duty husband has chronic complaints and is (mis)diagnosed. All documented in his service records, including receiving medication for infection when ther were no signs of infection
on numerous occassions. Making matters worse, he suffered an injury while active duty just prior to retirement.
Husband retires from active duty in mid 1990's, files for benefits with the VA, claims all symptoms related to the the (mis)diagnosis. Receives SC for all with 0% compensation for all symptoms and is still (mis)diagnosed.
His symptoms worsen over the years to the point that I thought he was dying. At this point our local VA hospital finally diagnoses him correctly. YEAH! (No, he was not dying but he does have a disease that is managed with the proper medication).
We filed a claim with the VARO. It was initally denied. Got an IMO which was very favorable for us. The doc even stated that hubby's active duty medical records clearly showed that he had been misdiagnosed since the 1980's. We turned the IMO in to the VARO. They sent it to the VA hospital for a written medical opinion.
A VA specialist initally wrote a medical opinion. I called her to ensure that she had read his medical records back to the mid-1980's, which she stated she had not. She asked a lot of questions which I answered. She then told me that she was restating her inital opinion as she had only went to the date of the injury just prior to my husbands retirement. She stated that his records clearly showed that he had been misdiagnosed by both active duty doctors and by the VA doctors as well. She restated her initial medical opinion and corrected it to the propre diagnosis and documented the years long misdiagnosis.
This resulted in a SC for 60% on the correct diagnosis but the ED is for Jan 08, when we filed the claim on the correct diagnosis.
We filed for a reconsideration as the VARO did not consider the VA specialists corrected medical opinion. We were denied.
We filed for an in-person de novo with a DRO.
Here is the kicker;
We went to the de novo. At hearing, almost at the end, the DRO stated that he was the one that had denied my husbands reconsideration.
We received another denial of EED, of course. The VARO filed for an Advisiory Opinion. And you probabaly guessed it, the evidence submitted by the VARO was not factual and they left out the amended medical opinion and did not submit the medical records from dating back to the 1980's.
What steps do we take? Is he eligible for an EED or are we just wishful thinkers?
Any help is very much appreciated. B)
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