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ptsd How Can I Get My Appeal Out Of Ro & Sent To Bva?
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Question
Ethan'sGrandma
Hello,
Thank you very much for this available forum. I hope somebody on here can clarify some stuff for me which I find very distressing in my dealings with the VA to date. A little background and I will attempt to summarize. I have three denied claims pending: PTSD, Depression, and Skin Disorder. I went to a hearing at the Indiana RO, which turned out to be a waste of time, not to mention expenses, to make it there. Nothing came of it, but yet another denial, another SSOC with just the wording changed a little bit, but still said the same thing as all the others. Still, none of my evidence seemed to matter, nor was my claim ever reviewed previously by a DRO, as per my request, prior to that hearing. The VA's claim was that I never requested a DRO (claimed non-receipt of request), just as they terminated my appeal for failure to respond on time, but re-opened the claim when I showed proof positive that it was, indeed, a timely appeal, since I kept my copy of USPS receipt of appeal sent and received by them when sent overnight express, for better paper trail. So much stuff sent to them claimed as non-received, so it was the only thing I could think of to do, to ensure they could not, again, say they didn't get my paperwork.
My last SSOC was back in Sept., 2009, to which I responded promptly. There were so many errors and assumptions in it that it almost blew my mind as to where do they get their information? Is it even my claim they are truly looking at? I responded to it and added that I wanted my claim to proceed to BVA (I'd previously submitted the required form). They send me the form, again, for that with another SSOC, but this time it omitted the PTSD and depression, but only noted the denial for the skin condition. I sent in the appeal form, noting all the claims/conditions, and expected the claim to be wrapped up and sent to BVA. Instead, in January, 2010 I get a letter from VA that I will be receiving an appointment from my local VAMC for a C&P exam. I actually never got notice of said appointment, but called the appointment phone number and found out there was a pending exam, which I verified by calling the C&P office directly, and I attended in February, 2010. What threw me for more confusion was why they were now sending me for a C&P exam for the mental stuff after I'd sent in the Form 9, since this claim has been pending since 2005? I'm sorry if I sound paranoid, but wondered if they were just fixing up their end before sending to BVA since my claim had, obviously, not been developed properly. I say that because from the start, they knew I have SSDI, but never bothered to send for those records, many dates they came up with on their SSOC's do not jive with reality, even as my records have been made available to them, and even forms in my SMR were disregarded by them, until I pointed them out, once I obtained my own copies of those.
Shortly after the exam, I found out that now they were holding off, awaiting medical records from my SSA files. The exam itself was rather ordinary, lasted about 10 minutes, and I have no clue how the VA doctor could possibly know too much from the information he was asking, mostly family background stuff and continually asking if I was doing much better now, despite my diagnosis'? I go to outside psychs, have done so for a very long time, but still have ongoing mental issues. The exam was pretty much terminated when he asked me again if I was doing much better now, since I've not gone back to the hospital recently, and I responded my phobia about hospitals just make things worse, so am not going voluntarily there again, if I can help it, but have continuing suicide ideations, which my treating doctor is aware of, but have no specific plans. At that point, the VA doctor said we were done with the exam. That left me wondering what exactly he was looking for, but that was the end of that.
So, I sent an IRIS request recently, asking about my claim's status. Today, I receive a response noted to be from one of the managers there (that's the title in the email response) saying my claim is awaiting a "secondary statement of claim to be prepared. The appeals process can be very lengthy. You will be notified by U.S. mail when a decision has been made on your appeal." Actually, I found the wording rather odd, since I believe SSOC stands for Supplemental Statement of Case, but okay, that can't be that important, but coming from a manager there, it still seems rather odd. So, I am assuming this just sounds like another SSOC will soon be arriving, meaning another denial. That's where my confusion deepens with my claim. At what point will the SSOC's stop coming and they will send my claim to the BVA? I've noted that many advice that it's best to keep the claim file at RO for as long as possible, making rebuttals/arguments about facts, but I don't feel like I have gotten anywhere with that, besides finally getting that C&P scheduled. If they are just going to send me another SSOC, it would seem to me that was for naught, also?
I understand, I think, the process as much as possible and the appeal form may be what triggered the exam, but I thought they would send my file to BVA, so it will get on the docket, but that's not what they did. So, I'm searching for some more knowledgeable people on this forum that may offer words of wisdom, so I can better understand how to proceed with my claim. All of my responses, to date, to all their statements have been proven with the records pointed out to them, I think, but this claim has many weird innuendos that makes me wonder what else is going on? For example, when I glanced over at my file when the C&P doctor had it open, I noticed what looked like some type of an alert that said this vet (me) was married to a PTSD vet (my husband).
Previously, when I requested my records from the VA, they erroneously sent me a copy of what looks like a development form from them in which the same thing was noted (I say erroneously because I don't think that was supposed to be for my eyes). Additionally, they noted erroneously that I did not claim PTSD until my husband was diagnosed. Actually, I sent them a copy of medical progress notes where it is noted they assumed erroneous information with that since I'd been diagnosed with it, before the dates they are acknowledging. I've asked them before what my husband's files have to do with mine, but they've not given me a response to that, as yet. I wasn't even married to the man when my in-service events occurred, never mind that I am my own person, served my own duty, so it seems unfair, to boot, that they seem to be looking for some type of link. On the last note, I do have a VSO, but has not been much help with anything, except that he did attend the hearing at the RO with me and did make the statement that the claim should be approved based on the evidence (paraphrased). It was too funny, though, but not in a funny way that he forgot about the hearing date, until I showed up at the RO for it, as previously arranged. So, I am pretty much alone in trying to figure this out. Any knowledge shared by any of you would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.
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