Secondary Claims

[lcurle]

Hey all,

I just put in a claim. Since I was denied Tendonitis for my R ankle and due to the chronic nature of it, I filed for Tendonosis. In addition to that I filed a secondary "Chronic Back Pain" to my lower lumbar degeneration as well as IU due to said conditions. Since I am in now unable to move very well, 32 years old btw, I am debating about going to the VAMC ER since the muscle relaxers and naproxin that was prescribed to me does nothing. The only thin that touches my pain and allows me to move freely is cannabis. Unsure what to do, this morning I was unable to move until my wife helped me out of bed. Debating about going to the VA today....any advice is appreciated. If this is what my life is going to be like unsure if I can handle it.

[lcurle]

I think that you got to stop crushing sparrow's eggs between your thighs! Lol! But seriously it is beginning to appear to me that you may need to email allison hickey ASAP. "Allison won Kanobe, is your only hope!" Let her know what you've been dealing with, as far as they have been disregarding your PCP DX and service connection.

From what I've learned from here, you don't need to be actually DX'd while on AD, just symptomatic. Like for me, I mentioned several times over my enlistement, that I was experiencing sciatica type sensations. While it doesn't show a DX, it does show I was suffering from it whilst on AD.

Who is Allison Hickey? and how would one get in touch with her?

[Andyman73]

Um....She is the Undersecretary of the VA., allison.hickey@va.gov. A lot of Vets have had near instant results/action on their claims, after contacting her. I believe her rank is General, so if and when you email her, use the appropriate honor and courtesy. Her work email is frequently answered directly by her, but sometimes some of her staffers do it too.

[broncovet]

Make sure you have all 3 documented: Current diagnosis, in service event or aggravation, nexus (at least as likely as not due to military service). Lack of documentation on Any 1 of the three is pretty much a guarnteed denial. Dont guess..look in your cfile and medical records. The VA will.

The VA will likely come up with bogus excuses to deny hoping you give up and dont appeal.

According to the most recent Chairmans report, of the claims that reach the BVA for appeal, only about 24% are denied. This means that 76 % of VA claims have at least a remanadable error in them, and only 24% are correct. (Of those 24% which are denied by BVA at least SOME of those will be overtuned on appeal to the CAVC). So, by appealing your odds are 3 out of 4 you will succed with SOMETHING, tho not necessarily get any more money.

That means you are batting .750 and the odds are in your favor. If you strike out, then just wait your turn for another "at bat".

Edited July 18, 2015 by broncovet

[lcurle]

How does one deal with a non proactive PCP at the VA? I will be getting on my wifes insurance next year and then I can see a private dr and maybe make some headway with some IME's. I ordered my complete cFile over a year ago, so unsure how long it actually takes to get it.

[lcurle]

I dont want to bug Allison until my ducks are in a row. Would be a waste of both our time as of current.

[Andyman73]

I dont want to bug Allison until my ducks are in a row. Would be a waste of both our time as of current.

I understand that. Personally, my steam has run out.