How To Fix Little Mistakes

[mos1833]

i lost my claim. the va made so many little mistakes , and they kelped me confused the whole time i was in the appeals process, ( i heard it said after va puts something on paper you'll never get it changed )

so now i want to list some of these little mistakes in no particular order, but this one is very confusing.and i hope you'll understand what my questions are.

this question is about remand orders. 95-42 640

a june 2004 decesion and order,vacated the boards decision and remanded the matter for further consideration.
in a march 2008 per curiam opinion,the united states court of appeals for the federal circuit (federal circuit) summarily affirmed the courts june 2004 decision.

subsequenty,in october 2008, the board again found that the veteran had submitted new and material evidence to reopen his claim.

see what i mean,the board again found that the veteran had submitted new evidence, even though i didnt summit any thing , and so i guess it came back from the federal circuit needing new evidence, is that right ? was this a mistake ? thanks

[john999]

The VA made a little mistake on my original claim in 1973.....wrong diagnosis! I got 10% and spent the next forty years dealing with that mistake. I think I agree with John Basser to get a good lawyer involed after first NOD. When I read these horror stories I wonder how I ever got any rating. 90% was luck and fact I was in a VA hospital for treatment when I got out of the Army. These VSO's are mostly idiots and one was directly responsible for me losing at BVA years ago.

John

[Testvet]

there are no "little mistakes" every statement put on paper is a "fact" with the VARO as long as they want it to be, if the veteran provides it, then it was obviously skewed in the veterans favor so all self serving statements are considered to be "lies", they tend to give the same weight to statements from family members and friends, they want evidence from "professionals" so they will ignore facts as long as they have a C&P exam done by a nurse practioner signed off by a physician who never saw you to fall back to when they write the denial letter.

One of the VA Nurse Practioners who did that similar thing to me back in 2004, ran into me after I won my BVA Appeal in June 2009 on the IHD issue sho opined about in 2004, and the doctor who did another C&P on cardiac issues which led to another denial, we found out later thru the state medical license board that he was a radiologist and the VARO took his statements over 2 board certified cardiologists who wrote IMOs in my favor, the BVA judge took a short look at the fiasco and granted my cardiac issues.

I started my claims with a "heart problems" claim in Dec 2002 by Dec 2003 I was mad at the DAV SO who was handling my claim by failibg to file the PTSD issue in July when I gave him the paperwork I had just got denying the "heart problems" I told him I wanted to appeal the denial, well he said he would do those two things, well at Xmas we were in Augusta and I went by the VA to see him about my claim, he was gone for Xmas but his secretary pully my file and all the paperwork from July was just tossed in there upside down and nothing had been done, I took my papers told her I was I firing the DAV as my rep and left mad as hell, with the help of people here I filed my own claim thru the Regional Office before the end of the month to secure Dec 2003 for an effective date. His errors cost us over 18,000 dollars. It took me 2 years before I got to 100% for PTSD, first 50% in Apr 2005 I filed the NOD the next day the evidence in my records justified at least a 70% TDIU award if not the 100% in Jan 2006 we had a DRO meeting in April 2006 they granted 100% P&T for PTSD and again denied the heart problems.

I was happy but my heart problems were going to kill me so I needed that SC to ensure my wife would keep her CHAMPVA and DIC. We filed another appeal on the heart issues but we had gotten more info here, so we added the hypertension and how the PTSD aggravated the heart problems etc so bottom line is we kept the issue alive until the VA changed the rules and allowed vets to use lawyers for appeals to BVA. I found a lawyer thru Larry Scott at VA Watchdog when I was still writing columns for him around that time. She took my case pro bono since my denials and appeals had predated the lawyer agreements with VA, she could not let us pay her, but she still took it because she could see that we were getting shafted. It took her less than 18 months to get new C&Ps and appeals to DRO and then on to BVA, she paid for a new IME which we feel helped tip the scales as we saw that doctor face to face, instead of a records review. He also showed how stress elevates bad cholesterol which led to the CA and how it took years to develop but the stress started from the PTSD stressors while I was in service.

Bottom line is with perseverance we won and evidence. Sometimes you have to show the "small mistake" doesn't affect the end product.

[mos1833]

thanks testvet

it seems iam always mad as hell , and when iam mad ,i dont think straight.

thats why i come to hadit, thanks all

[hedgey]

Testvet,

I was happy but my heart problems were going to kill me so I needed that SC to ensure my wife would keep her CHAMPVA and DIC

This is the aspect of filing claims beyond 100% that I can't get my VSO to care about.

MOS1833, I don't have any suggestions about how to fix a mistake in your file. I tried to correct a statement made by the Nurse Practioner who did my C&P for my knee a couple of years ago. I had told her that I fell down the stairs because my knee went out on me. She wrote in the notes that my knee began hurting after I fell down the stairs.

I had requested the records on the day of my C&P and got them in a few days (it's not like that anymore!). When I saw what she had written I found out how to file a request to correct or contest a statement. It took a few months, and all that happened was that the notes changed to "Veteran states that knee went out after fall down stairs".

I should have gotten a lawyer. I think that's the best advice and smarter people than me have already said it.

[Testvet]

yes the lawyer only makes statements of fact and they know how to document your statements so they do not get twisted by the regional office, I spent 7 years fighting the RO on my own and the VSOs in the early years, but I let my mouth and e mail keep me in trouble once the lawyer took over the mess was settled in less than 2 years and everything was SC that needed to be in order to protect my wife for DIC and Champva. The lawyer took all the stress off of me and my wife and life got better, since then we did file and A&A claim which we handled ourselves and was granted taking me to SMC L I am not sure if I should be M or not but I don't care at this point, it's not about money it is about protection of my spouse.

I would recommend a certified VA practice lawyer to anyone, I do not recommend one of these large groups that use paralegals and practice under the one certified lawyer that will never see your claim, deal with a real veterans lawyer

[free_spirit_etc]

"yes the lawyer only makes statements of fact and they know how to document your statements so they do not get twisted by the regional office,"

I wonder if part of it is how they document the statements, and part of it is that the RO is less likely to twist your statements if a lawyer is involved.