SLEDGE Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Greetings, Well folks, the St. Louis Regional Office is going to make dang sure that I'm actually suffering from severe anxiety, namely PTSD. In cases of administrative errors that could result in many years of retroactive benefit money the VA will go on fishing trips in order to find an opinion that they can use to deny the benefits (retroactive MONEY). My lawyer says this is not unusual. sledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder Pete53 Posted September 30, 2005 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted September 30, 2005 Tom I am so glad that you have a good lawyer and are letting him do his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Johnson Posted September 30, 2005 Share Posted September 30, 2005 Putting you through the hoops in order to establish a claim (SC) is almost to be expected...what bothers me are the RO's that put you through those same hoops for reevaluations. The regs clearly state that the VA's job in reevaluating a claim is NOT to make the veteran prove that he or she still deserves their current rating; rather, they are only supposed to act if any new evidence shows material improvements. The minute an RO start fishing for information on a reevaluation is the minute that the SO (or lawyer) representing the veteran needs to file a law suite (or refuses future examinations). In reevaluations the veteran must only prove that he or she has not made any signifcant material improvements...if a C&P does not show any of these improvements then the process is over. If the RO asks for more they are in violation of title 38 (not that any SO will ever even attempt to enforce regulations... that might put them out of job...IE - give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime..in the SO world it's "here's your fish, now get out"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder john999 Posted September 30, 2005 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted September 30, 2005 Sledge Are they sending you for another C&P exam even though you are P&T? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HadIt.com Elder Magoo_Mr. Posted October 1, 2005 HadIt.com Elder Share Posted October 1, 2005 (edited) Sledge Are they sending you for another C&P exam even though you are P&T? ----------------o------------------- Tom: John has posted a great question. Are they sending you for another C&P when you are P&T now ? And is this for the .. "Retro Portion" .. part only ?? I am confused too ?? Magoo aka .. Bill Edited October 1, 2005 by Magoo_Mr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLEDGE Posted October 1, 2005 Author Share Posted October 1, 2005 ----------------o------------------- Tom: John has posted a great question. Are they sending you for another C&P when you are P&T now ? And is this for the .. "Retro Portion" .. part only ?? I am confused too ?? Magoo aka .. Bill Magoo and all of the rest, "And is this for the .. "Retro Portion" .. part only ??" No. I read the whole string and I can say; "Here we go again" I am P&T and this evaluation is nothing more than a fishing trip or witch hunt or search and destroy mission. My lawyer said this crap happens all the time and is not considered to be unusual by the law firm. I believe that states a lot. --------------------------------------------- In my email from Colonel Dan, "Protecting America's wounded" - - - - - - - - - - By Mark Benjamin The Senate passed a bill Thursday to halt a plan by the Department of Veterans Affairs that lawmakers and veterans' advocates say could reopen the psychological wounds of thousands of American war vets. In May, the V.A. quietly began to draw up plans to review nearly 72,000 individual cases of veterans who in the last five years have been classified as disabled and unemployable because of mental trauma from war. Veterans' advocates have argued that a review would mainly be an attempt to cut costs, as the price tag of caring for veterans, like that of the Iraq war, continues to soar. They've also said the review would force traumatized veterans to prove their mental wounds to the department all over again, resulting in further anguish and exacerbating the stigma about war-inflicted psychological damage -- which already prevents many soldiers from seeking the help they need. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/08/09/vets/index.html The military construction bill now has to be reconciled with a House version. If the amendment passes both chambers, it will be the second time in four months Congress has acted on veterans issues first reported by Salon. In May, Congress passed <http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/05/13/walter_reed/?sid=1343100> an amendment by Obama to stop Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington from charging outpatient soldiers for their meals while they recover from the wounds of war. The review of PTSD cases has already begun for a handful of the 72,000 veterans, such as Vietnam vet Ron Nesler, who has already suffered some of the cost that veterans' advocates say is likely to come of it. "I thought I had proved this once and it almost killed me," Nesler said in a telephone interview last month. Nesler, who served in Vietnam in 1970 and 1971, corresponded with Salon during August, after the V.A. sent him a letter in Las Cruces, New Mexico, saying the department was going to look again at whether Nesler deserved his monthly payments for 100 percent disability for PTSD. In a letter dated Aug. 11, the V.A. said that although the department had previously found Nesler disabled by PTSD, the department would once again need a description of traumatic events, reports from doctors, and official military records that might have recorded traumatic events in Vietnam. "What they are saying to me right now is that I lied about the stressors," Nesler said then. He said the process of once again having to prove his mental anguish made his anxiety, sleeping problems, flashbacks and intense fits of rage much worse. His psychiatrist wrote the V.A. last month that, "Mr. Nesler can not endure another 2 year process such as the one he went through when his disability was first approved ... It seems to me that this is grossly unfair to Mr. Nesler as well as totally inappropriate." Congress can't act fast enough to save me from the same crap that Nesler went through, I'm already there. "He said the process of once again having to prove his mental anguish made his anxiety, sleeping problems, flashbacks and intense fits of rage much worse. " ("The V.A. has since decided that Nesler does deserve his disability checks for PTSD. "I have been completely absolved," Nesler said by phone Friday. "But it almost put me in my grave. It was a horrible thing.") I was notified by phone on Thursday, 29th of September, 2005 that my C&P for PTSD was scheduled for the 6th of October, 2005. That's a time gap of one week between the notification of the new C&P and the actual appointment. I think it's relevant to mention, the new C&P is scheduled with a shrink and not the normal PHD or Medical Center Janitor or the Grave Shift Social Worker or PA. The normal, regular, witch hunt guy is a PHD and he found me to have PTSD. I'll mention this again, His first evaluation was negative for service connection. No records review. After he read my c-file he changed the opinion to POSITIVE for service connection. I wonder if he still does evaluations for the VARO? I'm tempted to [show up and just leave] if my c-file review was not included in the C&P preparations. I have PTSD, the RO knows it, the shrink knows it, the PHD knows it and he read my file, all of my counselors know it , the groups know it and TDIU was granted by the "Tiger Team", the special adjudication force. the Social Worker's opinion was tossed out, the PA's opinion was tossed out, Several examples of RO dirty tricks were tossed. My point here is: anyone who knows anything can examine my file and see ample reasons fot the grant of TDIU from PTSD. By sending me for this new evaluation I can predict that my file has not been included in this evaluation. If it had been sent to the new examiner I would not have the new C&P appointment. My lawyer already has the paperwork ready to be filed to get him a copy of the C&P evaluation opinion. In fact, it probably has already gone out. Later, sledge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 sledge, nothing is truly "P&T" with the VA (that is what I have also). they just want us to think that way. how long have you had this rating? i ask because apparently the VA has this 10-yr clock and once a vet with a 100% IU P&T rating gets close to that 10-yr clock, it prompts a new C&P exam. not it all cases, but some. i haven't hit my 10-yr clock yet to see if i have to go through another C&P exam. but this is what i've been told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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SLEDGE
Greetings,
Well folks, the St. Louis Regional Office is going to make dang
sure that I'm actually suffering from severe anxiety, namely PTSD.
In cases of administrative errors that could result in many years
of retroactive benefit money the VA will go on fishing trips in order
to find an opinion that they can use to deny the benefits
(retroactive MONEY).
My lawyer says this is not unusual.
sledge
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