ptsd Fully Developed Cue

[SigBnSoldier]

Submitted CUE to Los Angeles RO on 5/6/15.

Evidence included-

7/21/2004 VA Form 21-4138 stating I was homeless with no mailing address at the present time

10/21/2004 Denial Decision letter mailed to address I had told VA I no longer lived at.

01/19/2005 2nd mailing of denial decision letter sent to the same wrong address again. This time RO handwrote in "C/O New Directions" but sent the letter to the same wrong address.

08/31/2004 Social Work Progress Note from VAMC stating place, address and phone number of new address in Santa Barbara I could be located at

11/10/2004 VAMC Los Angeles inpatient progress note stating I was returning to Santa Barbara.

01/19/2005 VAMC Los Angeles discharge summery note stating I was again returning to Santa Barbara Rescue Mission.

21-4138 Stating VA failed to follow proper mailing procedures and did not provide me with appellate rights. That I later, in 2012 won service connection for PTSD with Bipolar Disorder, and that effective date of 4/13/2012 was clear and unmistakable error, as well as the other contentions of that 2003 claim remained appealable.

So folks, do you think I've rebutted the presumption of regularity with this CUE claim?

[Berta]

I thought this vet was DXed and hospitalized for bi polar 5 months after discharge.

PTSD isn't the issue, the EED for it is.

[SigBnSoldier]

My current rating is 100% P&T for "PTSD with Bipolar Disorder, agorophobia, and alcoholism in sustained remission"

I was initially 70%  PTSD with Bipolar Disorder, TDIU P&T but developed liver issues (cirrhosis).  I am almost 9 years sober today, but wanted the liver connected in case I don't make it the 10 years for my wife to get DIC.

I got my treatment notes in order at my CBOC and rolled the dice with LARO, filing a new claim for "alcoholism with liver damage secondary to PTSD with Bipolar disorder".  I also went back and service connected all the contentions from the 2003 rating that I was never notified properly of, i.e. left ankle, lower back, migraines, GERD and also combined the CUE claim.  All contentions were awarded except GERD and CUE.

This opened the door to appealing for an EED instead of appealing the CUE denial itself.

My first malady is PTSD, various psychiatrists and I agree it was my stressor event that kicked off the bipolar disorder.

I was so short in the army when the bad behavior started.  There just wasn't enough time to get caught before discharge.

First hospital stay was in Germany at a German hospital, 5 months after discharge for attempted suicide.  It went downhill from there.  Many inpatient stays over the next 8 years were VAMC after I returned to the States fresh off a divorce.  

I was not diagnosed with PTSD till 2011, fifteen years after my bipolar diagnosis.  

[SigBnSoldier]

I have been wearing my fingers out on keyboard for a week searching for a rescinded version of VA's mail management regulations.  Currently I can only find one that was changed in mid 2005.  Can any of you awesome folks help me find a version of this---

M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section B. Mail Management

that was in effect prior to 1/19/2005?

It would be a serious boon to me if anybody has it!

 

 

[Berta]

You probably did this already, but have you gone through your C file to see if there is any proof in there of what will help you? Like copied of their letters to the wrong address?

One of the most important documents I had years ago was a Peer Review done by a VA cardio doctor that fully supported my FTCA/1151 cases.

The Review disappeared, so did the doctor and the regional counsel who ordered it and then called me to talk over a settlement amount...because of the Review

I had to fight my case at the General Counsel level at that point without it and even the Office of Legal Medical VA ( who certainly had a copy) told me it never existed.

Years later I got a copy of my C file and it was the very last thing in the file.I was livid with anger.

They had it all the time my FTCA/1151 case went on.I used that Peer Review for a subsequent AO claim.

I am sure you have already obtained the C file and gone over it carefully...maybe others out there who have not obtained a copy of their C files will realize there can be often be some very powerful stuff in it....

and it can be stuff the VA insisted they never had.

 

 

[SigBnSoldier]

Berta-

 

Not only have I submitted a copy of my old award notice mailed to the wrong address, but I also have a second copy of it where someone at the RO hand wrote in "Remailed 1/19/05" and they changed the wrong address to a different wrong address.

 

I also submitted a copy  of 21-4138 that is date stamped received by the RO on 7/24/2004 informing them that I was homeless and no longer lived at the two wrong addresses they mailed them to.

 

So now, what I could really use, is a look at 

M21-1MR, Part III, Subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section B. Mail Management

 

But only the version that applied prior to 1/19/2005.  That way I can spell out which procedural error they've made.

 

Can anybody help me find it?

Edited June 7, 2016 by SigBnSoldier

[SigBnSoldier]

Could I send an FOIA request to LARO for a copy of M21-MR, Part III, subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section B.  The version prior to 1/19/2005? 

Anybody with any ideas?