Please Help...is This Cue Or Not

[dystined]

Hello...newbie here and loving this site.

I recently requested a copy of an " Denial" for a claim filed in 2003 with Cleveland Ohio Regional Office. I received a copy of letter today which sd verbatim :

The evaluation of your service connected scar onthe neck remains less than 10% disabling and noncompenseable. The law states that VA cannot pay for conditions that less than 10% disabling.

Service connection is denied for tachycardia and tendinitis.

We have enclosed a copy of our Rating Deciosion for your review.

Here is my problem with this...

1. I didn't file for increase in scar (filed for hypothyroidism as a result of army removing cold nodule (malignant ) from thyroid

2. I didnt file for Tendernotis...I filed for Tinnutus

3. Letter says"Rating Decisions Enclosed " VAFORM 4107 ...BUT it is not included

4. I never received this letter because has wring address (never heard of this address)

So Experts are these legitimate errors?

[dystined]

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. ...

Another issue: on July 3rd 2003 we sebt you a letter telling you what information and evidence is necessary to support this claim. You have until July 3,2004, to make sure we receive the evidence and information we requested.

***Issue Date Stamp for denial is April 27,2004!

I am sp confused because this does NOT look like a legit DENIAL letter...will add copy for you all to view

Edited June 23, 2015 by dystined

[Berta]

I regret I cannot read the attachments well

"filed for hypothyroidism as a result of army removing cold nodule (malignant ) from thyroid"

Did VA ever acknowledge that claim and did they make a SC award?

Did you have ratable residuals from the surgery , that are still at a ratable level?

"I didnt file for Tendernotis...I filed for Tinnutus"

Was this a separate claim from the hypothyroidism claim?

Do you have proof, (such as USPS green card or tracking slip) that you filed those specific claims?
And copies of them?

"I never received this letter because has wring address (never heard of this address)"

"Another issue: on July 3rd 2003 we sebt you a letter telling you what information and evidence is necessary to support this claim."

But that letter did come to your correct address...I think
so this involves the original claim.......I think.....

Since filing these claims what attempts have you made to get this straightened out by the VA?

Did you have evidence you submitted ,yet they never had acknowledged?

Something sure seems odd about a decision that involves different issues than what you claimed.

You need to see what is in your C file.

You can request a copy of it from your VARO. Dont make the request under FOIA...FOIA will add months to the fulfillment of the request.

I have tried to make that point here many times, yet others are still saying to use FOIA for records that belong to the veteran.

No FOIA needed.

C file and medical records VA has ,belong to you,as well as the VA. Just a simple letter requesting a copy of them, with your C file number will do it. You can cite the Privacy Act 5, USC 552, but even if you dont, still you have a right to have copies of those records because they were generated via VA's relationship to you.

I dont know how long that will take.

Mine came in a few months after I requested them but that was in 2003. I was shocked by what I found.....some probative evidence they said that had never existed.

[broncovet]

Based on your post that VA got "EVERYTHING" wrong, even your address, your issues sought, etc., it sounds to me like your file got mixed up with another Veteran. Does it have your correct SSN? How did you get the decision, if it was mailed to an address you never heard of? Was it forwarded to you? I recommend you order a copy of your cfile, ASAP, to see if this was the case.

This could happen, EASILY, in Cleveland, because the manager there has to call his mom to come and tie his shoes if they become untied, he is so inept.

As of a couple weeks ago, the Cleveland RO has the longest appeal period in all of VA, with 82% of the appeals over 125 days. This means your appeals will likely not get processed for years and years.

Edited June 23, 2015 by broncovet

[broncovet]

Here is a problem with CUE.

CUE errors have to be "outcome determinative". In other words, mailing your decision to the wrong address is not going to necessarily affect the outcome, since you had to have gotten the decision, somehow, anyway.

VA's definition of "CUE" is unlike most everyone else's. To get benefits via CUE, you have to meet THEIR defination, not yours.

You should probably take this to an attorney, IMHO.

Another possibility is "reopening" your claim by submitting "new" evidence under 38 CFR 3.156, since it sounds like they have little or no of YOUR evidence. To find this out, order a copy of your cfile and see if the stuff is yours, or someone with a similar name.

[Berta]

And CUEs depend on a monetary outcome, by virtue of established medical evidence.

Were you diagnosed with hypothyroidism in your SMRs prior to them removing a cold nodule?

That alone would warrant service connect for hypothyroidism but it would have to be found at a ratable level,to involve any compensation.

As I understand this, even if the surgery caused the huypothyroidism, that too would warrant service connection , but it would only involve compensation, if at a ratable level.

"7903 Hypothyroidism

Cold intolerance, muscular weakness, cardiovascular involvement, mental disturbance (dementia, slowing of thought, depression), bradycardia (less than 60 beats per minute), and sleepiness 100
Muscular weakness, mental disturbance, and weight gain 60
Fatigability, constipation, and mental sluggishness 30
Fatigability, or; continuous medication required for control 10

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div5;node=38:1.0.1.1.5#se38.1.4_1119

Also the rating schedule shows

Thyroid Ratings

7901 Thyroid gland, toxic adenoma of
Thyroid enlargement, tachycardia (more than 100 beats per minute), eye involvement, muscular weakness, loss of weight, and sympathetic nervous system, cardiovascular, or gastrointestinal symptoms 100
Emotional instability, tachycardia, fatigability, and increased pulse pressure or blood pressure 60
Tachycardia, tremor, and increased pulse pressure or blood pressure 30
Tachycardia, which may be intermittent, and tremor, or; continuous medication required for control 10
Note (1): If disease of the heart is the predominant finding, evaluate as hyperthyroid heart disease (DC 7008) if doing so would result in a higher evaluation than using the criteria above.
Note (2): If ophthalmopathy is the sole finding, evaluate as field vision, impairment of (DC 6080); diplopia (DC 6090); or impairment of central visual acuity (DC 6061-6079).
7902 Thyroid gland, nontoxic adenoma of
With disfigurement of the head or neck 20
Without disfigurement of the head or neck 0
Note: If there are symptoms due to pressure on adjacent organs such as the trachea, larynx, or esophagus, evaluate under the diagnostic code for disability of that organ, if doing so would result in a higher evaluation than using this diagnostic codes."

http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?rgn=div5;node=38:1.0.1.1.5#se38.1.4_1119

"Another issue: on July 3rd 2003 we sebt you a letter telling you what information and evidence is necessary to support this claim. You have until July 3,2004, to make sure we receive the evidence and information we requested."

I feel that if you have the evidence they requested at that time, you could always re open the claim and provide for them any treatment records you have showing continuous treatment since service for the hypothyroidism , medication list, etc etc and any other residuals that are documented in your VA medical records, and conform to the rating schedule above.

Although the VA considered the scar and it was not found ratable, this tells me that somewhere in the past they must have considered why you had the scar from surgery and perhaps that surgery did not leave you with any ratable residual.

The appeal period for this claim has run out.

You can re open the claim with New and Material Evidence, and also that goes for the tinnitus claim as well...

If you can succeed on the new claim, and get a rating for hypothyroidism residuals, and/or tinnitus, under the same basis as what you claimed in the past letter , then perhaps a CUE claim might be in order.for the most favorably EED.

I see that they mentioned "Service connection is denied for tachycardia and tendinitis."

I cannot read the attachments well. Do they give a reason why the tachycardia was denied?

Has it gotten worse since?

[dystined]

Thank you all for replying...

1. The only reason that I now have a "certified" file copy of this letter, is because I requested it last week.

2.There was no reasons other than "not service connected" that the other two issues were denied.

3. There are absolutely no records etc attached to this claim ( information provided to me by an RO rep who submitted my recently reopened claim this May) he was baffled by this as well.

4. My VSO has sent in a letter today to Cleveland RO to investigate this issue as well.