ptsd Vcaa And Ptsd

[Berta]

TYhis is a great analysis of PTSD claims and the VCAA regarding VA's DTA on stressor Verification:

http://www.bva.va.gov/docs/VLR_VOL1/vlr1finn.pdf

[wablackwell]

Thanks Berta, Awesome Information.

[Berta]

Yes the VCAA is Awesome!

But ten years later VA prepared the new PTSD criteria, meaning vets had to get the PTSD diagnosis from a VA MH professional...

Not long after the 2010 PTSD regs came out, we had a vet's wife here who said VA would not diagnose her husband with PTSD and he had the CIB on his DD214 (they should have conceded PTSD stressor with that award) but I don't think she ever posted his decision and there had to be more to it.

Widows and widowers of veteran have to be aware that their VCAA letter is not like the one veterans get.

I didn't receive a legal VCAA letter in 2003. I asked BVA to remand on that basis. They agreed but remanded instead for one more VA med opinion.

That's OK .I made up my own version of a VCAA letter based on regulations for survivors and ,with that, I provided all the evidence I knew that I needed and when the remand got back to the BVA they said the VCAA violation was a moot point because they had awarded the claim anyhow.

VCAA violations after 2000 caused a big impact to countless remands from the BVA and that became a large part of the backlog.

I must have read hundreds of those BVA remands over the years, solely due to the fact that the claimant's rights had been negated by these violations because ROs were either too lazy or unwilling to properly adhere to the tenets of the VCAA,so that they could quickly deny the claims.