ptsd Special Status Noted On Va Claim

[armyvet2010]

Hello everyone,

I reopened my claim back in January due to a denial last September for PTSD and Mental Condition. I sent in a reconsideration due to a C&P exam never being rescheduled,so they reopened it. I had my C&P exam yesterday(I thought it went well) and the doctor signed off on it and it was sent back to the Chicago RO this afternoon. Well,I just called Peggy to check to see if anything else was needed and I was told my claim was noted as special status,meaning it was an expedited claim.I haven't sent in anything for a hardship so I'm not sure what it means for my claim and why it was noted.It was originally opened in May 2012 so I didn't think it had anything to do with the length of my claim.Does anyone have any idea what this means??Thanks!!

[Vync]

You probably know this, but remember that because it was a reconsideration, there is a time limit. If they approve it before the deadline, you're ok. If they don't approve it, you'll need to convert that to an official appeal/NOD/or NOD with request for in-person DRO review, or you risk losing the effective date. I only mention this because the VA is famous for telling Veterans that their claim is expedited, but in reality it might take forever.

I personally have not experienced an expedited claim, except for when I called the 202 number for the Office of Case Management. My NOD collected dust for almost 2 years and they were instrumental in helping get it put back on track. Someone else here might be able to shed more light on it.

[Berta]

"I reopened my claim back in January due to a denial last September for PTSD and Mental Condition. I sent in a reconsideration due to a C&P exam never being rescheduled,so they reopened it. I had my C&P exam yesterday(I thought it went well)"

Dont forget...you only have one year after the denial to file the NOD.

As I mentioned here before, the VA acted like (with responses) they were actually working on a reconsideration request I had filed on their denial of my 2004 SMC CUE claim.

But I marked my calendar and filed the NOD during the last week I had left from the one year deadline, because it had become obvious with their last response (they tried to make up a regulation in it) that they were just pissing my NOD time frame away.

In 2011 the Nehmer people along with my AO IHD death claim, and upon my request, adjudicated the older SMC CUE claim and awarded it.

You might get lucky if the C & P results are favorable and if someone at the VA considers this C & P prior to your NOD deadline but September isnt that far away....so dont hang your hat on whether VA will make a favorable decision prior to the Sept NOD deadline you have.

Last night at the H VAC hearing on the Whistleblowers, Dr. Mathews stated how he was more or less demoted from Chief of Psychiatry in St Louis to doing C & P exams.(because he was a whistle blower)

He briefly mentioned C & P exams and did a C & P exam for a vet whereby apparently the vet either re-opened his claim or argued that the first exam was faulty.

He was astonished that his C & P results ( for PTSD) were vastly different then the first examiners opinion.and said it was almost like they were doing C & P s for 2 different veterans.He added how improper C & Ps impact on a veteran's rating as well as their entire life.

In my letter to the committee I told of a similar incident regarding a C & P exam that was faulty and manipulated by the RO and when the C & P doctor found that out (from me) he was very angry.Luckily I raised so much hell that this claim was awarded anyhow. He sent me the actual C & P results himself.

The extremely probative evidence in VA's possession ( mentioned in my last H VAC testimony in 2008), clearly was kept from the C & P doctor,in an effort to deny that claim.He was shocked at what VA withheld from him.

What the VA SOC stated and what the actual exam stated was a vivid example of how the VA manipulates everything they think they can get away with .

It isnt always the C & P doctor's fault.

Make sure you get a copy of the C & P exam if it was done at a VAMC.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Berta