HELP

[Adaz]

can someone point me in the right direction far as getting some REAL HELP with this disability claim.......I got out the ARMY in 95.....they rated me 10% ...on a knee injury.......I have never been re-evaluated.....my other knee is going to hell and also my lower back.....put in a claim  a couple years ago and they denied it ..of course.......but im tired of playing with the VA....is there anyone in TEXAS who can help me submit the required write up so I can get my just due.....the struggle is real.....

[brokensoldier244th]

Are you and have you been seeking and getting treatment for these issues through either VA or an outside doctor? You have to be able to show that you currently have the symptoms/effects of whatever issue you have AND show that it is related to your service then. The easiest way to do that is to show a pattern of treatment going back to your time in service. You say "they denied it....of course" but you don't list why or what evidence you provided. Their denial may have been warranted based on lack of a connection between your physical issues and your service records. 

If you are expecting the VA doctors to document your issues to the Benefits side of things, that's not how it works, unfortunately. You have to file the claim with VA Benefits, then get examined by their Comp and Pension doctor(s) ,and then factor in the medical records and whatnot that support your claim. Having steady treatment records will go a long way towards supporting your claim.  What have you sent in with your claim previously? Do you have new treatment records (or older ones from that last claim that you found afterwards) that counter whatever their reason for denial? If so then you have ammunition for a claim, and possibly to counter their denial of the first one, though I think you only get a year after a denial to do that. 

 

 

[Vync]

Hi Adaz,
Welcome to Hadit! I got out of the Army in 1995 also and have been fighting the VA just about ever since then.

If you can post the text of your recent denials (omit personal/identifying details for privacy), it should be able to help us understand why it was denied and point you in the right direction. If you had a DBQ, the text of it can help also, but just remove personally identifiable details.

For direct service connection, you'll need:
1. Evidence of condition during service (SC)
2. Current diagnosis of condition
3. Medical opinion linking the 1 and 2

For secondary service connection, you'll need:
1. SC condition and/or treatment of SC condition which caused a new disability (this can be a pending SC condition too)
2. Current diagnosis of condition
3. Medical opinion linking stating 1 caused 2

Secondary is tricky to understand, but there is more to it. It is like that old "hip bone is connected to the thigh bone" song. For example, having a bad knee might throw off your gait and balance. Years of this can cause other body parts to compensate, like your spine, your other knee, foot, etc.., which can cause one or more secondary disabilities. Also, if you have been taking medication to treat your bad SC knee and side effects of that medication caused a new rate-able disability, you can file for that too. For example, if you took NSAIDs, like Ibuprofen, Advil, Naproxen, etc... for years and now your digestive tract is jacked up or you have horrible acid reflux, you can file for it too. Of course, they are likely to request medical records, send you to a C&P exam, run tests, etc..., to confirm everything.

Also, some docs might hesitate to give an opinion. They can use the lingo below to indicate their opinion. To get SC, you'll need 50% or better likelihood:
0% = Not due to
25% = Less likely than
50% = As likely as not (don't say possible or probably)
75% = More likely or Most likely
100% = Is due to, Was caused by, Caused, etc... (definitive wording)

Remember, the VA tends to get it wrong more often than they get it right on initial claims, even for secondary conditions. Most claims tend to be won on appeals

[brokensoldier244th]

Is that based on a statistic or on scuttlebutt? I, and several others that I know directly, have had little problem with the VA provided there was documentation or, or continued treatment of, the condition(s) we were claiming. Out of 10 contentions over 10 years I have had to appeal only one of them, and that was won on appeal. All the rest of my contentions or requests for increase, while not taking as little time as I would have liked overall, were still taken care of on initial filing. I used a somewhat similar, though not as thorough, method as Berta. 

I don't think that bashing the VA in the body of a post of otherwise useful information provides anything helpful to the discussion, and it certainly detracts from someone's initial question. 

 

IMHO if you want to complain about the VA then go to a VFW or Legion hall. 

 

Two cents *<plink><plink>

[broncovet]

ADAZ:

    I wish there were easy answers, but there are not. Do you have a copy of the old decision?  Can you post the reasons for denial?  Does the VA have your current address?  Have you ordered a copy of your Cfile so it can be reviewed by you or your representative to see if the denial was proper?  Do you have a representative?  There are 3 types of representatives:

1.  Veteran Service officer.  These are at no cost to the Veteran, but sometimes you get what you pay for, reminding you that Verizon will "give" you a "free" cell phone if you sign a 2 year contract.  

2.  A lawyer who represents Veteran claimants.  You can find a list of lawyers who are "certified" to practice before CAVC here:

https://vetadvocates.org/welcome/find-an-attorney/   You may or may not be eligible for pro bono (free) legal services, and, even if you dont get a "free" lawyer, there are circumstances when your lawyer is paid for by VA if/when you win under EAJA.   Sometimes, all or part of your lawyer fees are paid by VA.  You can ask one of these lawyers if that applies to you.  In every case you dont pay for your lawyer until you get paid from VA, if you have to pay at all.  

3.  A paid non attorney representative.  I think Alex (ASK nod) is doing this (maybe?) for free.  YOu can ask him for help, Im not sure his schedule.  Some claimants do the claim themselves with help from hadit, and this is not a bad idea for people who have computer/reseach skills and have the time, patience, and good health to do so.  

     Going it "alone" without hadit or a copy of the VBM is likely to get an unsatisfactory result.   Often, Veteran advocates with a good track record are very, very busy and some are so busy that they are not even scheduling appointments for new claimants.   So, we wind up with a rookie advocate or someone with a poor track record as these guys are rarely busy.  Its often better to wait for an appointment than to go with the rep who can see you first.   

  You can reopen your claim due to New and Material evidence under 38 cfr 3.156 if the reason VA denied you is lack of evidence but you have said evidence.  If VA committied Clear Error, you may be able to get it reversed.  Unfortunately, you have past the "regular" appeal period and its just too late to appeal unless the VA made an error such as a notice error that "tolled" your appeal time.

 

BrokenSoldier:   "Unwarranted denials" is not just a hypotheis with VA made up by denied, disgruntled Veterans, like VA would have us believe.  

  Personally, I have had Service connection denied for hearing loss (and other issues) even when the audiologist had in her original C and P exam "the Veterans hearing loss is at least as likely as not due to noise exposure while in military service". 

The DRO reiterated the original denial based on "time since military service" which is NOT one of the "big 3" for service connection..it is not a criteria.  Its simply a "made up" denial, with nothing to do with the VA's regulatory criteria.  A denial of Service connection should either be for eligibility reaosns or failure to meet one or more of the Big 3 for service connection:  1. Current diagnois, 2. In service event or aggravation and 3 nexus.  "Making up" the "time since military service" as a denial criteria is arbritrary, capricious, and contrary to regualtions.    

The BVA corrected the unwarranted denial, (well partially)  but this and other errors raged on through no less than 19 (by acutal count) Regional Office decisions (including SOC's and SSOC's)  and 2 BVA decisions.   Im in line for my 3rd BVA decision, and I hold out little hope, given past history, that it will be right this time either, after 21 erroneous BVA, RO, or SOC decisions.    

Tbird calls this site "hadit" for a very good reason, and its not because VA does the right thing and promptly awards deserving Vets their benefits.   I am not alone in "unwarranted denials", most of the Vets posting here have also had unwarranted denials.   According to the 2014 Charimans report,

71% (46% were remands, 25% were awards) of decisions reaching the board had one or more errors.  This is not the 95% "correct" rate that VA would have us beleive.  

Edited December 8, 2015 by broncovet

[Andyman73]

Personally I have roughly a 35% denial rate in my own claims.  And even one of my SCDs took 2.5 years for a rating, even though it was the very first injury in my STR, and had nearly a dozen additional entries over the course of my 6 yr enlistment. 

[brokensoldier244th]

And here we go again- de-railing the conversation/question that was initially posed.

see again- 

I don't think that bashing the VA in the body of a post of otherwise useful information provides anything helpful to the discussion, and it certainly detracts from someone's initial question. 

 

IMHO if you want to complain about the VA then go to a VFW or Legion hall.