Help Needed With What To Claim

[willie 74]

Good evening everyone,

I am assisting another vet with his claim. Here is a little back ground. This vet was hit by a passenger car while on base when he was in the Marine Core. He suffered many injuries which I will list here shortly. They wanted to medically discharge him at the time but he was able to talk his commander in keeping him in since he was so young and wanted to do so. He was discharged later because his enlistment was up and he wanted out. He did not put a medical claim in until about 8 years later. To make this short he was given ten percent for hearing loss. I will copy and paste his injuries he sustained so you can see them. I will also appreciate if you can assist me in what he should be claiming for. thank you in advance and I will also post some questions.

Date of accident 28 June 1998

Diagnoses:

Acute Renal Failure, unspecified

Volume depletion

Closed fracture of dorsal thoracic vertebra

Closed fracture of unspecified part of fibula

sprain of medical collateral ligament of knee

sprain of cruciate ligament of knee

other disorder of muscle, ligament, and fascia

edema of male genital organs

Ok these injuries were from the accident in 1998. I will now post some statements from his medical paperwork dated 3 July 98. these statements are not in order, I just tried to post the important ones.

The patient was hit at 35 miles per hour on the left lower extremity and bilateral back, the patient denies loss of consciousness. The patient states that his extremity and back pain has progressed since discharge. Vertebral tenderness in t-12, difficulty in medial and lateral movements. X-rays revealed a t-12 compression fracture. CT of the abdomen showed bilateral striated nephrogram consistent with delayed excretion. No evidence of hematoma, urethra disruption, hydronephrosis. Slight ascites.

His left lower extremity was found to have a fibular fracture and torn mcl and acl. 30 days convalescent leave.

This is the only medical paperwork I have of his. Since leaving the military he has had several jobs, his injuries have cuaght up with him and prevent him from doing much work at all at this point. I tried to obtain his award letter of ten percent and what was denied but had no luck. He did not have any idea at the time how to file a claim and probably did it wrong. However I really want to help this vet out. I did my own claim with help and advise from fellow vets here and I am one hundred percent. I feel this vet is due for more than just ten percent for hearing loss.

​So I just need some insight on what he should claim, Major depressive disorder, and for his back I am not sure if it would fall under ddd or not. Just need help here. Thank you, thank you all for any insight..

[georgiapapa]

Just for a start, he will need to request his C-file from the VA which should contain his original award letter and may or may not contain his SMRs from his military service and other evidence he submitted in his initial claim. He should also gather all relevant post discharge medical records from the VA or private medical providers.

If the veteran has the info or when you get it from his C-file, please post more info as to exactly what medical conditions were claimed in his original claim, list of evidence submitted, reason for denials of claimed medical conditions, etc. This will make it easier for Hadit members to give suggestions and opinions to help the veteran. Post as much info as possible. Any condition previously claimed and denied by the VA will require new and material evidence to reopen the claims for the denied conditions.

Depending on what info is already in his C-file or in his possession, he may need to obtain buddy statements from persons having knowledge of the 1998 accident, military accident reports, transcripts of legal proceedings related to the 1998 accident, documentation of proposed medical discharge and any other documentation related to the 1998 accident and the veteran's injuries from the accident.

Assuming he did not already obtain IMOs supporting his claims and once he has all relevant medical records in hand, he should go to his medical specialists who have treated him for his different medical conditions caused by the 1998 accident and ask them to provide IMOs. The specialists should review all of the medical evidence before preparing an IMO and rendering their opinions. The IMOs should meet the format and content requirements as shown in the IMO sample letter on Hadit.com. JMO

[rootbeer22]

Willie74:

Was the accident on or with a military vehicle and/or was a claim filed against an insurance company as a result of the accident if it's a civilian accident? The key issue is to show a service connection (if it exists and is warranted) and the evidence is very important in the matter. Showing a linkage, connection or what is commonly refered to as a "nexus" is very important to proving the case if it's military related. Frankly, I don't think that the military would be liable if the individual was in an accident with a civilian in a civilian vehicle despite the fact it occurred on a government or military installation? That said, I do know that one can make a or file a tort claim against the goiverenment but the chances of success are directly related to the incident and any extinuating circumstances like a faulty traffic light, vision blockage or any fault of the government that may occur? However, if the person was in the miltiary, drivng a military vehicle and an accident occurred, there would have been an accident report filed and that would be a key piece of evidence that would need to be obtained to support this case and any claims. Also, if it's clearly a military related accident, there probably would have been a line of duty (LOD) investiagation and obtaining that would be very important to getting to the fault of the incident and if someone was held responsbile as well which may impact on the ability to file a claim?

[georgiapapa]

If I am not mistaken, federal tort claims must be made within two years of the date the claimant became aware of the issue at hand.

[Berta]

Good advice above.

"Ok these injuries were from the accident in 1998. "

All of them you listed?

Did he claim them on the original claim he filed?

"I tried to obtain his award letter of ten percent and what was denied but had no luck."

The award letter would be in his C file.

It is hard to determine what he should file and whether they already denied anything above.

The award letter will have the info we need. His SMRs will have what he needs as well.

[willie 74]

Thank you for all the information. We are working on getting that C-file ..