ptsd CUE DECISION AWARDED FROM NOD

[Storm]

Good Evening Everyone,

 

      Happy New Year to everyone, I was shocked but I now I have more to go.  Heres the decision :

                               

                                                                                            INTRODUCTION

 

            The records reflect that you are a veteran of the Gulf War Era and Peacetime. You served in the Army from February 1986 toJuly 1986 and from September 20,1990  to July 4 1991. We received a Notice of Disagreement from you on February 8,2016 about one or more of our earlier decisions.  Based on a review of the evidence listed below, we have made the following decision(s) on your claim. 

                                                                                                 DECISION

              Entitlement an earlier effective date for service connection of post traumatic stress disorder (previously claimed as dysthymic disorder) is granted because of and clear and unmistakable error was made; therefore, a 50 percent evaluation is assigned effective September 3, 2012.

 

              Entitlement ton an earlier date for service connection of post traumatic stress disorder(previously claimed as dysthymia disorder) is granted because of a clear and unmistakable error was made in assigning an effective date of February 3,2014,the date of receipt of VA form 21-526EZ Fully Developed Claim was received; therefore, a 50 percent evaluation is assigned effective September 3, 2013, the date of receipt of your claim for PTSD.  You were denied service connection for PTSD in the rating decision of October 21, 2013 because you did not attend your exam.  You advised us on February 4,2014 that you missed your exam due to a conflict in your schedule, but were willing to report for VA exam. You reported for VA exam on November 10,2014, were diagnosed with PTSD, granted service connection in the rating decision of January 31,2015, notified of that decision on February 9, 2015.  February 8, 2016 we received your Notice of Disagreement in which you stated you believe you should be granted PTSD back to 1995. Please be advised the claim for PTSD received September 8, 1995(error it was AUG) resulted in a VA exam that did. not have a diagnosis of PTSD, you were diagnosed with dysthymic disorder claimed as PTSD; you were notified of that decision on October 2,2002.  You did not appeal that decision and it thus became final October 2,2003. one year from the October 2, 2002 notification letter advising you that dysthymic disorder was not service connected.  This decision is now final as the one year appeal period has expired.  It was not until your most current VA exam that PTSD was diagnosed and related to service, As stated the proper effective date is September 3, 2012 as the claim received on the date has been continuously prosecuted from that date and thus did not become final.

 

  Please feel free to chime in on anything because although, I'm happy and grateful for my award  and the VA Cueing its self. I can't be shake the feeling of still going for a CUE back to 1995. They admitted in the decision. Dysthymic Disorder PTSD.  And on my DD214/15 all my SWA Medal,National Defense, Liberation of Kuwait Medal didn't ring a bell in the initial denial back in 1995. 

I apologize if I posted in the wrong topic before sorry.

                                                                                                                                     Thank you

                                                                                             

 

 

 

 

 

       

[Storm]

 

Wow Berta, Thank you. I'm going this week to request the file. Just spoke to a gentleman he told me to request FOIA. I realized it was different. But didn't know they used sheets. In my medical record they said there's a diagnoses from Dr.XX and its says I was DX with dysthymic disorder at the time of the Compensation and Pension evaluation. I need to see it. I have the copy here. 

[Berta]

If the VA had made a NSC rating and given a diagnostic code on the older denial..and also had evidence in their possession ( from your SMRs) that this was potentially PTSD ,it would be easier to find their legal error.

 

I have been reading as much as I can at BVA and even the CAVC site regarding your situation...and am wondering if this should be a claim involving 38 CFR 3.156.....

Did you mention or were you even asked what your stressor was in the older C & P exam?

Obviously the VA has conceded stressor with the PTSD award you have now -so maybe they overlooked something .....maybe in your STRs or Personnel file? Or in the C & P exam report?

Have you googled the Dr.XXXX  to see of he is really a MH professional?

I hope his full name appears somewhere.....for all we know he might be a podiatrist.

In 1995 they were still asking vets claiming PTSD for descriptions of their stressors, but this was before the 2000 VCAA.My point is they should have asked for that info before the 1998 C & P exam.

 

 

 

 

 

[Storm]

Hi Berta,  I found the doctor. He's a psych Neuro advisor to Patrick Kennedy.  I also have to look in the Persian Gulf Registry. I took a lot of tests. Also this info was written on another record sign off by a neuropsychologist.  I was researching you old stuff  in the appeal section and I saw u correct a guy about that 38 CFR. Law. He used it for the SOC  Form 9 AND NOD. That's what I was thinking. They made the same error in my SOC. 

[john999]

That dysthymic disorder DX is the VA trying to get out of PTSD dx IMO.     Did you get compensated for it?   When I want for first rating in 1972 the VA said I had schizophrenia  that was only mildly related to Vietnam service etc.   What they were saying was when I enlisted three years earlier I was schizophrenic, but fine military doctors just missed it up until I came home from Vietnam and started to have classic PTSD symptoms.   There was no such DX as PTSD in those days so they just said  "vet has anti-social PD and schizophrenia"  give him 10%.  I do remember VA gave me MMPI and were so alarmed by results the doctor who gave the test did not want to see me again.  I told him all I saw were pools of blood when they gave me Ink Blot test.  They actually used to do that back in the day.  From that day back in 1972 I knew I was at war with VARO and VA system in general and that they were taking no prisoners.  To keep my compensation low they were willing to destroy my reputation and standing when I went to try and get federal job.  My DD-214 had a spin code that said I was a  sociopath.  This goes over big with perspective employers if they look at dd-214.  I got all that changed but even after I got discharge upgrade to full honorable the spin code remained identifying me as nut job with non -existent criminal tendencies.  This was the grossest kind of libel and slander.  I should have sued them but I did not know enough and someone else did it for me.

[john999]

Storm

 

                  I got 70% for schizophrenia, bipolar, PTSD and a bunch of other things.   The VA just would not concede a 100% rating, but I got TDIU and since then I got about 80% of other individual combined ratings.  So I got TDIU P&T in 2002 and then SMC "S" in 2008.  It took me thirty years to go from 10% to 30% to 70% to TDIU to P&T and a few more years to get "S".  

[Berta]

Storm, you said:

 " I found the doctor. He's a psych Neuro advisor to Patrick Kennedy.  I also have to look in the Persian Gulf Registry. I took a lot of tests. Also this info was written on another record sign off by a neuropsychologist. "

I hope those test results got into your medical records.The VA gave my husband numerous tests over a 2 day period to determine his level of PTSD (was at 30%) and then to determine his level of disability due to a 1151 stroke. The results showed 100% PTSD  as well as total and permanent disability due to the 1151 stroke.

The RO ignored the tests and never mentioned them in a denial,after he died, and by then they knew he was on SSDI but failed to obtain the SSA records, his SSA awards were critical to his 2 claims,that  I was claimant on after he died.

I went right over to the VAMC when I got the denial and his psychologist told me he knew the VA had the results, but he gave me a copy too, and also wrote VA a letter as to these  tests results and the fact that he had seen my husband';s SSA awards because I brought them with me.

(One SSA  award solely for the stroke, which we filed reconsideration on with SSA, which produced a SSA award solely for his PTSD with a very favorable effective date.)

Within a few months, they posthumously awarded 100% SC P & T for PTSD (1997) with EED of 1991 and 

due to a CUE I filed on a 1998 decision,they awarded 100% P & T under 1151 for his stroke, in 2012.

My point is that those test results could have been critical to your original PTSD claim.Maybe they even contained the PTSD diagnosis.

The VA is very good at ignoring critical evidence. They have done that to me for every claim I have filed...even the most recent one last year....when not only the director, by phone and email but also an additional VARO employee who told me by phone that he had my 5103 where I listed the evidence they had

- a VACO Medical opinion- all the evidence I needed  and that he would give it to a doctor right away for an opinion. They ignored the VACO opinion AGAIN, I raised hell and CUE,via fax and IRIS, and then the award letter was in the mail very fast.

Men and women! This is what VA will do to your spouse, when you die, if your spouse is not up to speed on a lot of this VA stuff. I am sure many grief stricken widows/widowers just want to walk away.Because they will do this crap as soon as they get the DIC claim,unless the grant of benefits is very obvious (like 10 years continuous 100 % P & T)

There is a widow's recent topic here I am going to link everyone to later today.....to show not only how proactive we all must be with decisions we get, but also how important it is for our survivors to be on the ball.

And of course they will do this to any veteran as well as a survivor.....if they feel they can get away with it...

If any of your probative evidence is not listed in their evidence list on a decision....that means ,as likely as not, that VA did receive it, but chose not to even read it.

Probative evidence like IMOs.......the BVA was the only VA entity to read my DMII death IMOs....

This VA crap does not happen in a Vacuum, it is deliberate.