Agent Orange Disability Ratings

[VietnamVetSis]

My brother's Ischemic Heart Disease as a result of Agent Orange exposure as a Marine Rifleman in Quang Nam Province in 1969-70 was just approved - and rated at 60%.   Another AO disability of Diabetes II was also approved at a 40% rating last summer.  These, combined with his previous disability of scars/lack of motion from his battle wounds, gives him a total combined disability rating of 80%.   I couldn't have done it without the help of HADit.   I had no clue about the claims process when I started.   I am still going to keep plugging away on getting a schizophrenia nexus.   But I wanted to say thank you to everyone out there in the HADit  community that has given me guidance.  God bless you.

[Berta]

" (He was wounded in action - set off a grenade booby trap - still has shrapnel in his ankle and deep wounds in legs and arm).   He has all the combat badges / purple heart etc."

That certainly is a stressor.

"they declined the PTSD claim as it's been so long since his trauma I guess he didn't give the right answers"

Do you mean they denied the PTSD as it has been so long since his stressor? Or did they "decline" to even address that claim????

Can you scan and attach the denial here as to their Reasons and Basis?

I have seen, in the past year, whereby VA will try to deny initial PTSD claims, filed decades after the Vietnam war.They have no legal basis to deny or refuse to diagnose PTSD solely  due to how much time has passed since the stressor occurred.

This recent Dec 2016 BVA decision shows what I mean.

https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/Files6/1647058.txt

The vet had the PH ( it is a very long decision includes many issues)

The RO refused to re-open the PTSD claim but the vet had N & M so the BVA granted the re=open and remanded for PTSD and other issues.

No where in this decision or anywhere in established VA case law is there any reg or rule that prevents a PTSD claim from being adjudicated- no matter how long ago the stressor was.

Heck if the VA can pull that, they can say compensated PTSD vets are"cured" if decades go by after their stressor occurred.

The problem with IME docs for MH issues is that even if they diagnose PTSD, VA will not accept that under the 2010 PTSD regulations.They will ,however, hopefully accept a diagnosis of schizophrenia caused by PTSD.

Mike Hunt gave excellent advice:

"Again, Schizophrenia is a manifestation of these events. Clinicians agree that it's 'triggered' by stress during late teens/early twenties. It's important to focus on those events, not the outcome of what they call Schizophrenia. Again, the VA only speaks in terms of PTSD, so schizophrenia is extremely difficult. "

The IMO/IME doc will need his Military records and any private and VA records, particularly those hospital records, 7 years after Vietnam.

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2017 by Berta

[Berta]

 

The BVA case above had an odd disability listed with the PTSD, called trichotillomania.

 

I looked it up. It is when self hair pulling occurs and becomes obsessive.

 

The link states:

 

How and when does it start?

The most common age of onset is in preadolescents to young adults. On average, it is typically between 9 and 13 years, with a peak between 12 and 13 years. [2][3] It is possible that hair pulling may be seen in infants, but this behavior typically resolves during early development. The onset of this disorder may be preceded or accompanied by various emotional states, such as feelings of anxiety or boredom. A stressful event such as abuse, family conflict, or death may also trigger trichotillomania. 

http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/trichotillomania-hair-pulling

 

I found 25 cases at the BVA with both  trichotillomania and PTSD in them.

I guess my point is sometimes PTSD is in details of unusual behavior that could be diagnosed as a different MH disorder.

Hoarding, now considered a disability by the APA, is also a behavior that is very often caused by severe stress.

I guess any OCD behavor could indicate PTSD as well.

You are right VietnamVet Sis, that our Military and our VA really didn't know what PTSD was until the late 1980s.

We had a SC 100% P & T  paranoid- schizophrenic vet here many years ago, ( Terry Higgins) so it is not impossible but very difficult as Mike said to get this disability Service connected.

 

[Buck52]

This can be overcome, if they used  its been too long to file for the PTSD  then that is no excuse for a denial  this veteran has a purple heart and wounded in combat   his combat code should be a #2

so many OF US VIETNAM VETERANS have been in denial about mental problems and PTSD  and just never wanted to admit we had a mental problems (for me anyway) but it can and will take its toll on us,  I was one of these veterans that never came forward about it for over 40 years and it got to where I could not stand the pain and guilt anymore and I finally opened up to VA MH Dept. (That was Big step for me and I'm glad I did....not just for the rating but it was like a burden released from my shoulders.

Been in treatment ever since and probably will need to be in it the rest of my life or until I am unable to attend the treatments. (medications do help)

[john999]

Back in 1973 I got 10% rated for schizophrenia. Now all these years and many claims later I am P&T plus SMC "S".    This is because the VA did not have a DX of PTSD at that time.  Since that time VA has changed DX'es on me many times to include bipolar, MDD, anxiety disorder, back to schizophrenia so the actual DX means nothing once you are connected for a mental health issue.  Chronic pain disorder is a mental health DX.   If vet's records list any treatment for mental health issues or if he has stressors for PTSD he can claim PTSD or any other mental health issue that is backed by evidence of service connection.  I got "some" good advice and I claimed my mental health issues within one year of discharge.  For PTSD you can wait 60 years and still claim it if you have symptoms that persist and you have verifiable stressors such as CIB or PH.   If the vet has an 80% rating and one rating is at least 40% he can claim TDIU and should do this immediately if not sooner.  If it were me I would be claiming the PTSD and TDIU for the AO conditions.  There are WW11 and Korean War vets who have claimed PTSD successfully in recent years.   There is no way your brother should go another 18 months without either 100% scheduler or TDIU P&T.   Once you get a MH service connection you can then use IME's to bump it up to 70%-100%.  The VA is playing a shell game with making themselves the only ones who can DX PTSD.  This is completely absurd since PTSD is diagnosed in the general public among crime victims, accident victims and law enforcement often and the VA is not there.  One of our posters had his PTSD claim denied because VA said he did not claim it while he was recovering from extensive wounds and then discharged.   This is why they call it Post Traumatic Stress because it is after the event (maybe years after) that the stress is finally recognized or become symptomatic.  Because I can claim only one MH disability for compensation there is no use in me reclaiming PTSD now.  I already get 70% for MH.

[MikeHunt]

On 2/22/2017 at 10:26 AM, VietnamVetSis said:

 they declined the PTSD ... I guess he didn't give the right answers.

This is why they denied it.

When we go to a C&P we have some idea in the back of our heads that we're going into a somewhat adversarial situation- You don't mention things that would/could be taken as unfavorable to our position

An independent examiner, who's on our side, would rectify this in a moment.

[Buck52]

here is the rating criteria for mental health disorders

General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders

   Rating

Total occupational and social impairment, due to such symptoms as: gross impairment in thought processes or communication; persistent delusions or hallucinations; grossly inappropriate behavior; persistent danger of hurting self or others; intermittent inability to perform activities of daily living (including maintenance of minimal personal hygiene); disorientation to time or place; memory loss for names of close relatives, own occupation, or own name.100

Occupational and social impairment, with deficiencies in most areas, such as work, school, family relations, judgment, thinking, or mood, due to such symptoms as: suicidal ideation; obsessional rituals which interfere with routine activities; speech intermittently illogical, obscure, or irrelevant; near-continuous panic or depression affecting the ability to function independently, appropriately and effectively; impaired impulse control (such as unprovoked irritability with periods of violence); spatial disorientation; neglect of personal appearance and hygiene; difficulty in adapting to stressful circumstances (including work or a worklike setting); inability to establish and maintain effective relationships.70

Occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity due to such symptoms as: flattened affect; circumstantial, circumlocutory, or stereotyped speech; panic attacks more than once a week; difficulty in understanding complex commands; impairment of short- and long-term memory (e.g., retention of only highly learned material, forgetting to complete tasks); impaired judgment; impaired abstract thinking; disturbances of motivation and mood; difficulty in establishing and maintaining effective work and social relationships.50

Occupational and social impairment with occasional decrease in work efficiency and intermittent periods of inability to perform occupational tasks (although generally functioning satisfactorily, with routine behavior, self-care, and conversation normal), due to such symptoms as: depressed mood, anxiety, suspiciousness, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss (such as forgetting names, directions, recent events).30

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress, or symptoms controlled by continuous medication.10

A mental condition has been formally diagnosed, but symptoms are not severe enough either to interfere with occupational and social functioning or to require continuous medication.0