ptsd Crunch Time -nod Or Not?

[nlualum82]

Soon to be 1 year from getting my upgrade.

I went from 40% hearing to 50% hearing, 70% PTSD/MDD, 10% tinnitus, 10% lknee injury and 10% l knee degenerative osteoarthritis.

I was denied 10% for chronic otitis externa. I thought it was a well documented claim. A VA ear, nose & throat doc's records that I submitted said "...l otitis externa, most likely from the ear molds (hearing aids)...stuck in a chronic state...). I had an IMO from a doc who treated me for the condition a couple of times.

The VA sends me a prescription every month to control it.

The C & P examiner was very hostile.

I figured I would correct his statement to the effect that I no longer had the problem since getting hypo-allergenic molds. I told him it had reduced the frequency a bit.

The VA denial said it could find no record of me having it in service - I would point out that I filed it secondary to my hearing loss and that it didn't occur until I had to wear hearing aids full time due to my S hearing loss.

I guess it's partly the nature of PTSD, but I am threatened by the idea that they may bring me back in and review everything and cut me somewhere over filing the NOD.

I am 90% now and working at the post office. IU seems a distant dream. The otitis award wouldn't change my percentage and as such wouldn't bring retro.

Another question - I have heard of the requirements of new evidence to re-open a claim. Since retro is not involved, can I re-file the same claim anytime - is the one year limit only to preserve an effective date?

Gary

[Guest rickb54]

Vike,

short answer I have a COPD rating the 4th leading killer in the US.. It is more about the future than the present.

[vaf]

Vike, in the case of a schedular 100%, or I guess TDIU for that matter, how does one know that they won't be reduced in the future, even with P & T? The answer is that we don't know that with any degree of certainty. Which is why I advocate filing for conditions that warrant ratings, regardless of whether they will result in additional compensation. The veteran may need that cushion in the future, if the VA wants to reduce him. Should the day come when that happens, the fact that the veteran didn't bog down a system that's already overloaded will be of small comfort to him. And the folks who he supposedly helped by not filing his claims in front of theirs won't be of any assistance to him.

Just my opinion.

[Guest fla_viking]

Dear Fellow veterans & Friends

I think there is less chance of reviews than there is changeing the laws themself that give us our sc. The republicans put forth a disablity commisson with one of the issues if we should even be compesated for our injuries. They want to offset ect. We vets vote for those republicans who want to put us in the street.

Terry Higgins

[john999]

It is not the responsibility of vets to decide which claim is valid or trivial. That is up to the VA and if they had the manpower they could do this quickly. All our claims are bogged down because the system is bogged down because the government does not want to pay compensation if they can get out of it. How can we slow down a system that is already so dysfuntional is flows like sap in December. The only question for the vet is if the cliam is worth filing due to touble that goes along with filing a claim. COPD is definitely worth filing for in my opinion just as is DMII and any cardiovascular disease.

[Brandy]

Soon to be 1 year from getting my upgrade.

I went from 40% hearing to 50% hearing, 70% PTSD/MDD, 10% tinnitus, 10% lknee injury and 10% l knee degenerative osteoarthritis.

I was denied 10% for chronic otitis externa. I thought it was a well documented claim. A VA ear, nose & throat doc's records that I submitted said "...l otitis externa, most likely from the ear molds (hearing aids)...stuck in a chronic state...). I had an IMO from a doc who treated me for the condition a couple of times.

The VA sends me a prescription every month to control it.

The C & P examiner was very hostile.

Another question - I have heard of the requirements of new evidence to re-open a claim. Since retro is not involved, can I re-file the same claim anytime - is the one year limit only to preserve an effective date?

Gary

Gary,

Just my two cents worth. In the beginning of my fight for my husband's disability increase I did a lot of research on when a claim informal or formal can be filed. I did this because my husband has received the same rating for 27 years and we were unaware that if his conditions worsened that we should file a claim with the VA. My husband found this out at a annual eye exam at the local VA clinic from another veteran. From your posting you mention that "The VA sends me a prescription every month to control it". From the research I have done, due to ours being so old, the VA states that a "Informal Claim" for benefits is if the veteran is treated at a VA facility for a non-service connected condition, this is to be treated as a informal claim for benefits. Now I am new at this but at the same time I am using this as my husband was treated for some of his service connected and non-service connected conditions at the local va facility. I would go to the VA that provides you with scripts and get copies of all of your records including scripts for all years going to that facility. The scripts and if you seen a VA doctor for this would be good evidence as to when the condition started. You can fight it from this and possibly get the retro. If you made them aware of what VA facility you are receiving treatment at and filled out a 21-4138 for that facility, the VA should already have those records and show that they have been treating you for this condition for xxxx amount of years. Because I am not the most experienced when it comes to NOD's vs CUE's, I don't know which one you would need to file if you were already denied. If denied within the last year, I would send them a letter stating that they had received your informal claim for benefits for this disability back on ????? (when you first began getting the RX from the VA. But obviously, what still remains is proving the disability. But if they are giving you scripts for it I would think that would help your case somewhat. But you will need to call this to the attention of the VA stating that you provided them with a informal claim for this disability beginning (date).

I hope someone else gets in on this and tell me if I am wrong. Remember I am fairly new at this VA law (about a year), but I did do extensive research on this matter being that we had no contact with the regional VA office for 27 years and needed to know how to approach our first claim with them or if we could even file a claim. We had no idea about any of these things.

Brandy

[nlualum82]

With Nov. 9 being the deadline, I decided to fax an NOD (my first) to the VA on Nov. 6.

I spoke with my VSO briefly about it. He said I did not have to do it all, just be specific about which issue I was dealing with and say that I disagreed with their denial.

I am guessing that they will contact me and I will then respond with the long version.

I just happened to get a new tube of triamcinolone acetonide from the VA in the mail that day!

Item 6210 is my condition, and I have to address at least 3 things I can think of off the top of my head:

They denied because:

"My records don't show a diagnosis of otitis media" - I'm filing for otitis externa, plenty of diagnosis and records on that!

"My records don't show it occurring during service" - I'm filing for it as secondary and I guess I'll have to walk them through it - SC for hearing loss - thus need hearing aids - hearing aids caused otitis externa according to YOUR Dr.! Is that the framework of a nexus?

To quote hostile C &P guy "has not been a problem since switching to hypo-allergenic aids" - I told him that it was less frequent and the Rx worked much better than hydro-cortisone that my HMO supplied, but I won't bother to treat them to a blow by blow account or that I don't think for a minute that it was an accident or misunderstanding that he wrote that in his report.

I am soon to be headed in to have a new right aid made to replace the one I lost. The reason it was in my pocket instead of my ear was because of an outbreak. I have not been diagnosed in my right ear, but it started right after the Rx started coming and I've handled it the same way with the same results.

Thanks for all the responses. The help is what we come here for mostly, but sometimes it's just nice to see that caring people respond.

Gary