Prior Medical Conditions

[Papa]

When one goes to their Entrance Exams, and you tell the Doctors that you have a medical issue, but they ignore it. They do not advise you to get any medical records from your private Doctor, they just laugh and send you through and pass you. Now, you are out of the military, and you file a claim for disability based upon your prior condition. Now, the VA denies you because they say that you had this prior to your military time. I always wondered how this could be since at the Entrance Exam they basically tell you that you are full of cr*p. Once, they pass you, are they not telling you that you were in 100 percent physical condition at the time you entered the military? So, how can the VA tell Veterans that were honest at the Entrance Exam that they are denied?

Papa

[vaf]

I understand the soundness and aggravation issues. However, when I went through the entrance exam, it was I that mentioned my pre-existing condition. The Doctors showed zero interest. So, how do they even know that I had a pre-existing condition? On my separation exam, it is noted, but only as a note. At the time of my separation I was having so much stomach pain, and Maalox does not cure everything, that I had to hurry and get out so that I could get some proper medical care. The only way that they know or think thery know that I have a pre-existing medical condition is that a non-medical person (me) told them I did. They did not believe me then, so how can the VA come back now and say that I had a pre-existing condition.

Papa

Is it also listed on your entrance physical? If so, what is written, exactly? How did they list it on the separation physical, what did they write down?

If they noted it on your entrance physical, they must have decided it wasn't severe enough to disqualify you for service. The stomach pain, etc., that you described above, was that the nature of your pre-existing condition?

My opinion only,

Whatever the condition was, if they didn't check you for it, they must have dismissed it as irrelevant or not severe enough to interfere with service. If that was the case, I'd be interested to know if they wrote it down on your entrance physical.

If it wasn't severe when you entered, but it became severe as a result of your service, you'll need to argue the aggravation factor.

It really doesn't matter how or why they did what they did. The fact is, they did it and now you have to find a way to deal with it. Information you gave them was ignored when it didn't suit their purpose and used against you when it did suit their purpose, which is to prevent or minimize compensation for a condition that wasn't caused by your service. If your service aggravated it, that's a whole different ball game.

I don't know why they didn't believe you, I'm assuming you volunteered for service, so it's not as if you were trying to get out of serving, I assume. Plus, I guess they don't have the same volume of personnel showing up during the volunteer service as they did during the draft, so maybe they relaxed their standards some.

I wouldn't spend any time trying to figure out what happened in the past; spend that energy figuring out what you're going to do next, that's all that matters.