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[Knwldg909]

 

Edited October 14, 2016 by Knwldg909
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[Knwldg909]

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Edited October 14, 2016 by Knwldg909
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[HitemStraight]

I had surgery on my right knee at VA hospital over 20 years ago to repair torn ACL. I still have numbness in the knee from severing the nerves. Not unusual.

[pwrslm]

Put in a request for your C File. C File is a slow process, be patient with that.  Also, you need to put in another request for the service medical records, and a third, for the hospital in patient records from Reed.  The medical records should all be in digital format, you probably can get them on line through E Benefits site.  Go to the front page, under managing benefits, there is a link to DPRIS. 

Once you have those, you are in a much better place to figure it all out.  From that point, get into an exel file, list every medical condition in the records,  group them by related etiology.  On the conditions you were SC for, mark off records that you can relate to the SC.  Then go to the rating schedule, and check that you received a correct rating.  You can also check the M21-1 instructions for these conditions, this is the VA's guide for rating conditions.

 

When you get this far, post back for more guidance, lots of people here to help out.  With all the facts at your fingertips, you are way ahead of the game and should already know what the rating authority should be doing before you get that far.  As far as the CUE goes, this information is what you have to have to figure that out.  Everything here should have been in your C File. 

Edited October 27, 2015 by pwrslm

[FormerMember]

Newsflash. The medrecs aren't at Walter Reed anymore. Just thought I'd let you know that. Try NPRC  hospital file. There are three files there (Hospital/ STRs/SMRs. Three separate files in three separate buildings. Then go to a VAMC ROI and ask for all your VA medrecs. You get them that day. No monkeying around. 

Edited November 1, 2015 by asknod

[broncovet]

A few things which were apparently not brought up:

1.  You may not need to file a CUE, you may need only to file a NOD, if your decision was within one year.  You said you got a decsion, but did not say whether it was a BVA or another RO decision.  

2.  If yours is a  BVA denial, then you have to file a NOA within 120 days, not one year.  

3  . The threshold to reopen a claim is low.  You dont have to prove your claim, you just have to prove you have a reasonable chance of substantiating your claim with new and material evidence to reopen.  Did they deny the claim, or did they deny you reopening it?   Here is an example where they explained the threshold to reopen is low:

http://www.va.gov/vetapp14/Files5/1435401.txt

Edited November 1, 2015 by broncovet