hearing loss BBE Today & some backpay

[Buck52]

fiasco2g

Appeal the hearing and tinnitus, they will likely send you to another C&P AND RETAKE THE HEARING TEST OVER.  

(get copys of this test)

PLUS GO GET A PRIVATE HEARING TEST AND HAVE THEM TO USE THE VA GUIDELINES AND THE MARYLAND CNC Word test ,&

make sure the Audiologist is a specialist or from an ENT Dr's office.

Ask the audologist to have the Dr write you an opinion  if you need it to be service connected? if not then have him to state his prof opinion if your hearing  has worsen since your last test,, your ,MOS would qualify you for Noise Indused Hearing loss. (combat guns being fired close to you and hueys landing and taking off artillery rounds being fired, IED being deanated in close proximity.  Loud Sudden Noise will cause Hearing loss  your Dr can mention that in his letter.

 After the Testing let the Audiologist Know you have this ringing/buzzin humming sounds inside your head and its constant and drives you crazy.

Compare the two test  if the private Dr's test show your hearing is worse than what the VA C&P Drs say  use the private Dr test to rebut the VA..Ii could very well go into equipoise and the VA will usually go with the private Dr.  &  License  & state certified approved Audiologist .

[Berta]

Fiasco:

You need to whip out this VA Fast Letter ( 10-35) if you feel it applies to your tinnitus.

http://www.njarmyguard.com/_attachments/docs/library/fast 10-35.pdf

It should be available here somewhere without the NG site header-or you can just copy the letter from the link, circle the MOS that applies to you and just cover the National Guard header if you scan it and then copy it.

If the VA should have applied the Fast Letter 10-35 to any HL and/or tinnitus claim but they didn't,(even after looking at the MOS lists and all available medical records) then it is a CUE.

I don't know how to read audio reports  but others here do, if you can scan that part of the denial.

The HL denial might be wrong too.Buck gave great advice on that too.

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2017 by Berta

[saxman]

Fiasco, 

make sure you take your STR with your if you use a private audiologist  to review.  This is why the VA denied my claim for tinnitus, and it's now on the way to the board. 

[fiasco2g]

Well I included the fast 10-35 letter which my mos is rated Moderate in the claim. I also included my personal statement which i will paste below. It seems  clear to me they screwed this up because their own letter says moderate or high should get connected. They say the ear doctor from my C&P said it was from before I joined the military because i did have tubes in ears when little but I clearly told them to their face my ears started ringing while deployed in iraq. Oh well I guess I need to figure out how to do a CUE since I did not see a link on ebennies.

I -------- joined the US Army on ---------, and received an Honorable Discharge on -------. I was stationed with ----------------, Fort Bragg NC 28310 when I was deployed to Iraqi from ------  – ---------. My job was convoy security gun truck commander out of Baghdad International Airport (Biap).
My hearing got worse while deployed due small arms fire, IED, RPG’s, etc. I also started getting ringing in my ears during this same deployment timeframe. I was around loud radars, generators, and artillery guns due to my normal job. The ringing in my ears is a daily event that can have several severe occurrences to many. It is different everyday but impossible to work or concentrate when it happens. This tinnitus started during my deployment to Iraq as a convoy security gun truck commander.

I have included as attachments in my fdc claim entrance hearing test results, radar repairer MOS hearing lost probability chart fast letter 10-35, this personal statement, combat action badge, dd-214, and the va hospital audiology exam results from ----------- in which I was told that I need a hearing aid and there is nothing they can do about the tinnitus.

I certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing statement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

[Buck52]

sounds good to me, the only thing about when referring to tinnitus, let them know it is a constant sound and never goes away.

to get rated at any %  for hearing loss  you will need to be dang near deaf, they very seldom rate a low % with hearing loss, usually a 10% rating, but if your hearing loss is 50%  then that is almost dang near deaf with the VA Hearing guildlines, note: they rate without the hearing aids.

if you had a qualified hearing Dr to state your hearing loss and tinnitus can be caused from excessive loud noise while in the military and caused you to have noise induced hearing loss then that should do it.

Hearing loss claims are hard to win  You need a STATE CERTIFIED LICENSE Dr to help with his/her impression after they test you and examine you.

Note: the C&P Dr that mention the tubes in your ears at a younger age  could very well mess up your entire claim, you may need  a private Dr to rebut that.

jmo

[pwrslm]

Look at the reason and basis that they gave to deny tinnitus and hearing loss.

If there is nothing in your entrance exam suggesting hearing loss or tinnitus, then it is supposed to be presumed SC. Dont tell them anything you dont need to; this is like court, they have to discover everything that they use to deny your claim.  You have a presumption of good health as indicated in your entrance exam, and if these conditions are suggested, the RO must show that the conditions did not get worse during your enlistment, or that they only progressed naturally as the disease or disability does to everyone else who was not enlisted.  The VA has a very high hoop to jump through to prove that hearing loss and tinnitus was not affected by your service to this country, and its a disgrace that they still keep trying to deny care and/or compensation to any Vet affected by something this fundamental.

I have been thinking about filing for tinnitus as well, its like a 24-7 companion that follows me around from the 2/83rd FA Battalion.

Edited February 14, 2017 by pwrslm