ptsd This All Seems So Hopeless

[kate7772]

I so understand why veterans give up. My husband was denied in Sept. 2013 for several conditions, including chronic kidney disease and depression. This was filed through the veteran's service commission and was so messed up. The kidney disease was supposed to be linked to Camp Lejeune toxic water and that fact was never mentioned. The VA basically said there was no service connection for anything.

Since the original filing, my husband has also been diagnosed with PTSD by the VA. Due to that, he is not dealing well with all this and so it all falls to me. And this is really adding to his PTSD symptoms.

We are attempting to get his medical service records to be used for an IMO. My husband does not feel there is anything in the records relating to his problems now. Is it necessary for the doctor doing the IMO to review the service records if we are not claiming anything from them? We are getting a runaround on this. The VSO is adamant in saying we don't need them and in fact, don't need a nexus letter. I think that is bull and don't want to wait another two years, only to be turned down again. This is so confusing.

The VSO says that since 2012, renal toxicity is an automatically approved condition. I think she is talking about health care but even that, I think he will still need a service connection.

Is there anyone that actually knows anything or is it just a bunch of people being paid for showing up?

I am not sure where to proceed from here. I have several doctors lined up for IMO's. I spoke with Dr. Bash and a toxicologist that does IMO's also. Just not sure where I begin to refile.

Is it an appeal, reconsideration, etc? Would like to keep original file date intact for back compensation. But also need to add PTSD. He originally claimed depression, anxiety, irritability (didn't realize it was PTSD related.)

We also spoke with DAV but they were vague and not helpful.

We really need to get this restarted. My husband is only able to work about 16 hrs a week now, due to the kidney disease and I am also limited in hours due to an injury. We are both in our sixties. I don't know how long we can survive.

Is there an answer to all this?

Thanks,

Kate

[GatorNavy]

From a typical BVA decision:

In order to establish service connection for a claimed 
disorder, the following must be shown:  (1) medical evidence 
of a current disability; (2) medical, or in certain 
circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or 
aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence 
of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury 
and the current disability.  Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 
247, 253 (1999).

Additionally, service connection may be granted where a 
disability is determined to be proximately due to or the 
result of a service-connected disease or injury.  38 C.F.R. 
§ 3.310.  Establishing service connection on a secondary 
basis requires evidence sufficient to show (1) that a current 
disability exists and (2) that the current disability was 
either (a) caused by or (b) aggravated by a service-connected 
disability.  Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995) (en 
banc).

[john999]

To establish a secondary SC condition you need a medical report that makes the connection. Otherwise, the VA will just ignore the dots. I filed for a few secondary conditions and the ones that went easy were the ones where I had a medical report that established the nexus between the primary SC condition and the secondary condition. The other ones often require C&P exam, appeals, etc.

[NavyWife]

You need to do a Google search on
"Dept of Veterans Affairs TL 11-03"

This explains in detail how a claim based on Camp Lejune is processed.

Skimming through the letter, it says in most cases, even if you get your own IMO, they will still want to schedule a C&P through VA to establish the service connection due to the nature of this being such a specialized claim. The training letter states you DO need a nexus statement tying the disease to the water contaminants.

In order for VA to even schedule you the C&P exam though, they will want to see 3 things. Wow, I really wish I could copy and paste, this is a lot of typing!!!!

1) vet must provide credible medical or lay evidence showing a current diagnosis or symptoms of disease or disability

2) service at Camp Lejune between 1957 and 1987 is verified

3) the claimed disease or disability can reasonably be associated with the known water contaminants

Did your claim contain these 3 items? or at least items 1 and 3?

When you submitted the claim, did you state, "I am applying based on Camp Lejune water contamination"?

On the list of conditions they are aware of with associations to the contaminated water is kidney cancer and renal toxicity AKA kidney failure. Also listed is hepatic steatosis AKA fatty liver disease. Is that what he has? If so, should be easier to get an approval. If not, then probably pretty difficult to get approved.

Sorry I cant give you the direct link. I have not been able to use the copy and paste feature on this website recently...I hope it gets fixed soon. Don't know if it's just my account or everyone's.

Also, on the mental health issues...Whether you file for depression or anxiety or PTSD, etc, they will only give you ONE rating based on ALL your mental health issues. Might be best to focus in on the one or two that give him the hardest time in his current day to day life, and that have the most medical evidence...

Edited February 22, 2014 by NavyWife

[kate7772]

You need to do a Google search on

"Dept of Veterans Affairs TL 11-03"

This explains in detail how a claim based on Camp Lejune is processed.

Skimming through the letter, it says in most cases, even if you get your own IMO, they will still want to schedule a C&P through VA to establish the service connection due to the nature of this being such a specialized claim. The training letter states you DO need a nexus statement tying the disease to the water contaminants.

In order for VA to even schedule you the C&P exam though, they will want to see 3 things. Wow, I really wish I could copy and paste, this is a lot of typing!!!!

1) vet must provide credible medical or lay evidence showing a current diagnosis or symptoms of disease or disability

2) service at Camp Lejune between 1957 and 1987 is verified

3) the claimed disease or disability can reasonably be associated with the known water contaminants

Did your claim contain these 3 items? or at least items 1 and 3?

The claim had 1 and 2 but no Nexus. We had never heard of a Nexus and the VSO was no help.

When you submitted the claim, did you state, "I am applying based on Camp Lejune water contamination"?

I wasn't sure if this was included but must have been because it is mentioned in the denial as "no connection."

On the list of conditions they are aware of with associations to the contaminated water is kidney cancer and renal toxicity AKA kidney failure. Also listed is hepatic steatosis AKA fatty liver disease. Is that what he has? If so, should be easier to get an approval. If not, then probably pretty difficult to get approved.

He has Membranous Glomerulonephritis/Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 3. There are mentions throughout research articles that it can be caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, including some of the ones at Lejeune. He has no other known cause, such as diabetis, etc.

Sorry I cant give you the direct link. I have not been able to use the copy and paste feature on this website recently...I hope it gets fixed soon. Don't know if it's just my account or everyone's.

Also, on the mental health issues...Whether you file for depression or anxiety or PTSD, etc, they will only give you ONE rating based on ALL your mental health issues. Might be best to focus in on the one or two that give him the hardest time in his current day to day life, and that have the most medical evidence...

Thanks for taking the time.

[kate7772]

I remember seeing on my husband's denial, reference literature the VA said was used to base their opinion on the kidney disease. There was a bunch. Now, I cannot find that. It is not on our paper copy. I don't see the denial on ebenefits. Where else might I have viewed it?

[kate7772]

Kate

If your husband was at Camp Lejeune, then all you should need is orders showing he was there and the dates. There probably is nothing in his SMR's that show kidney problems when he was there. The water at Lejuene was contaminated so you are not going to get problems until later in life. It is kinda like AO when I was in Viet Nam I didn't have any prostate problems but, now I have prostate cancer and it is a presumptive just as most of the diseases from Camp Lejuene. All you need is a doc. to give you a nexus saying "it is at least as likely as not" that his kidney disease is caused by the problems from Camp Lejuene. But by all means get all the documentation that you can.

Does the doc actually need to state he has viewed my husbands SMR if we are using nothing from the records? Is it a requirement of a Nexus letter?