Need Feedback - Could I File A Claim?

[jmlopez9]

Hello all, I am a little shocked because I just received some not so great news...let me start at the beginning. It was about Apr or May of 2010 and I was still active duty (I wasn't due to separate until Aug 2010) Anyway, I was about 8 months pregnant. I had been getting some really sharp pains in my mid back for about a month or two. I figured all this was because of the pregnancy but it kept me up at night because they were extreme, to the point of not being able to breath regularly. So I saw my OB/GYN and I think she gave me some ambien to be able to sleep better. Again, I am really sorry about not having too good of details, my memory is terrible. Okay so I had my girl at the end of June and thought it would all go back to normal. I separated as planned but this whole time I am still suffering from back pain, same area. Long story short, I finally gave up on my excuses such as thinking that it would all clear up after having the baby and then after buying a temper-pedic mattress, and made an appointment to see my on-base provider. (I am now a dependent spouse) So they did x-rays and the technician asked if I had ever been told I had scoliosis, I said no, what is that? He showed me my x-ray and my spine looks like a google image of scoliosis it's bent and everything. So my questions are: because I was pregnant I wansn't x-rayed when the severe pain started, can I still file a claim? How do I know whether or not my Gyn wrote I was having back pain in my records? I am very confused because this wasn't noticed anywhere else in my 12 years of service or elementary for that matter. Also, just as an added bonus, I was at my dermatologist a few weeks ago and she asked if I had scoliosis, I very confused said no and she said okay. So, although I have been suffering from this mid back pain since 2010 but never went to officially get checked out because of pregnancy and because after the pregnancy I really thought it was my mattress, could I file a claim? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Berta]

You need to obtain a copy of your SMRs to see if anything in them would possibly support inservice manifestation of this condition.

Also if you go to the BVA web site, there are many decisions there on this disability.

Many however seem to characterize the scoliosis as pre existing because it is often a congenital condition or begins in late teens or early adulthood.

You might well need to consider getting an IMO, if there is any potential way to SC this,whereby a doctor could determine and state that this condition as likely as not began in service,with a full medical rationale that hopefully something in your SMRs could support.

You mentioned the technician's remarks , but did you get a medical diagnosis of this?

I had a CT scan years ago and the CT technician said something very concerning to me right before he did the scan..As soon as I got home I googled

enough to find his remark had no basis and he was not a doctor anyhow. And the CT was normal and altered completely a tentative diagnosis for something I didn't have.

Maybe the records from the on-base provider will confirm the actual diagnosis ,in your case, and set you up for follow up treatment for this.

[sharon]

Scoliosis is considered a congenital or developmental disorder. As such you can not file a claim for compensation. You can however file a claim for aggeravation if you can show that something in service increased the progression of the disability or increased it's natural course.

§ 4.9

Congenital or developmental defects.

Mere congenital or developmental defects, absent, displaced or supernumerary parts, refractive error of the eye, personality disorder and mental deficiency are not diseases or injuries in the meaning of applicable legislation for disability compensation purposes.

§ 4.22 Rating of disabilities aggravated by active service.

In cases involving aggravation by active service, the rating will reflect only the degree of disability over and above the degree existing at the time of entrance into the active service, whether the particular condition was noted at the time of entrance into the active service, or it is determined upon the evidence of record to have existed at that time. It is necessary therefore, in all cases of this character to deduct from the present degree of disability the degree, if ascertainable, of the disability existing at the time of entrance into active service, in terms of the rating schedule, except that if the disability is total (100 percent) no deduction will be made. The resulting difference will be recorded on the rating sheet. If the degree of disability at the time of entrance into the service is not ascertainable in terms of the schedule, no deduction will be made.

§ 4.41

History of injury.

In considering the residuals of injury, it is essential to trace the medical-industrial history of the disabled person from the original injury, considering the nature of the injury and the attendant circumstances, and the requirements for, and the effect of, treatment over past periods, and the course of the recovery to date. The duration of the initial, and any subsequent, period of total incapacity, especially periods reflecting delayed union, inflammation, swelling, drainage, or operative intervention, should be given close attention. This consideration, or the absence of clear cut evidence of injury, may result in classifying the disability as not of traumatic origin, either reflecting congenital or developmental etiology, or the effects of healed disease.

Edited July 28, 2012 by sharon