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DRO REVIEW

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sh912

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I have been waiting on a DRO review for over 900 days. My attorney hasnt heard anything and nobody at the knows anything except my file has not been touch since they received it. We didn't aak for a hearing just a review for tdiu and an increase on my mental health issues. I dont know what else i can do. Its also flagged as a hardship cause by still no movemment. is there any advice on how to get this moving. Please advise, im getting no help at all.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Call your R.O. And tell them what you just said here, or contact the VA Secretary office and let them know  you have not heard a word about your DRO Review on Appeal for  the last 900 days.

That is totally Ridiculously ....I'd fire me one Attorney.

Best bet is to email the VA Secretary about this.

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Have you contacted the attorney about this??

Unfortunately, this is VA's "new normal"..2.4 years "sitting" at the RO before it even gets certified to the BVA.  If you dont think so, just read the BVA chairmans report.  Firing the attorney wont make it move quicker, it will likely result in additional delays.  Most Vets advocates dont recommend changing your representative in the middle of an appeal as it does not usually "help" the outcome. 

There is new legislation designed to "fix" the problem, but that is only being implemented willy nilly.  

Its taking 4 to 5 years for a BVA appeal, and MOST of that is sitting at the VARO waiting for the RO to certifiy it to the Board.  

Have you gotten an SOC?  Did you or your attorney file the I9?  Are you waiting on a hearing?  

Sometimes the problem IS with the VEt.  He moves and does not notify VA of the move, so he never gets the decision.  

Still, I agree with Buck this is a long time for a DRO review, which suggests you have not gotten the SOC yet.  

You need to communicate better with the attorney..its possible Va is waiting on something from YOU, and maybe you did not send that to him. 

For example, they ask if you want a hearing or not.  You must respond or your appeal can die.  Sometimes they ask for signatures to releease information or something else. 

You need to get to the bottom of it.  My suggestion is to contact the attorney first, then if you still are not satisfied, email the wh hotline.  

 

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  • HadIt.com Elder

My case sat on a DRO's desk in Pittsburg VARO from 05032011 until I finally got it moved to Cheyenne, WY in 2015.  I recommend against allowing a DRO review and would suggest having your attorney withdraw your appeal from DRO review and move on to the BVA.  If your NOD is on point to the issues there is no sense wasting time at the DRO who will probably automatically reject and then you probably have to do a new NOD to get it to the BVA before you can get to the CAVC.  I think at the BVA level the Judges don't want to be overruled by the CAVC so your chances of getting your claim remanded and done properly at the AOJ level is better than standing by for a DRO decision.

My case moved fairly fast at the AOJ in Cheyenne.  A new C&P was done 06152015 by unqualified PAs.  A neuropsychological assessment was done by a contractor who didn't follow the VA protocol and caught me on a good day at my best time.  But at least after that was done, my attorney got it to the BVA expedited on the Docket because of my 75th birthday. 

I caught a really good judge and have learned a lot from her 05112017 decision which I am using for CUE claims and noting at the same time failures in "Duty to Assist."  Many of the issues are in remand and I expect some CUE decisions.  Hopefully at the AOJ level without having to go back up the ladder.  

The Judge gave me a denial on one issue.  That let me file an NOA to the CAVC and get a copy of the Record Before the Agency (RBA).  I have additional documents that were not considered which bode well for my CUE claims both for revision dating and for increases in rating.

Plus I found a smoking gun for my filing under the Federal Tort Claim Act in U S District Court.  I'm very happy with the treatment I received from the BVA Judge I drew.

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S-912, when did you sign up with the VA Lawyer, pre or post NOD Filing? What or who led you to requesting a DRO Review as opposed to an actual face to face with a DRO Hearing?

Have you or your Attorney filed a VA FOIA request for your complete C-File?

If you still have a VSR and they have an HQ Office at your RO, make an appointment to see the Dead Honcho for a sit down. He will be able to access your Appeal File and determine wear you're at in the Stack of DRO Reviews. Your IU Appeal could already be with a DRO and/or a Decision could have already been determined. That's the problem and Main Drawback to the DRO Review, you won't know until the Retro $$ unexpectedly appears in your Direct Deposit Account.

If the DRO Decision is a continuation of your IU Denial, it takes even longer due to need of SOC. It could take 6++ mos after the Denial Decision for the Denial Letter and SOC to arrive.

After filing your DRO Review NOD, did you supply the VA Mandatory "New & Material Evidence," that was not available to the original IU Claims Rater for review. When did you submit the N & M E? Did you get a VA Hardship Appeal Advancement or did you file for one and haven't received anything back.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

 After the veteran gets a letter letting him know about the choice of  DRO Hearing /Review.

 usually or it use to be 60 days to return a DRO Hearing/Rewiew  for a sit down face to face with a DRO and the DRO sends out a letter to the Veteran for the date/time of the Hearing./Review

Appeals are controlled by the date of receipt of the NOD in a system called VACOLS (Veterans Appeals Control and Locator System).  A single NOD may express disagreement the decisions rendered in a single Rating Decision, or it may express disagreement with decisions rendered in multiple Rating Decisions which have been issued in the prior year.  There is no limit to the number of decisions or ratings with which the Veteran may disagree.  There is also no limit to the number of NODs a veteran may have pending at any given time.  A Veteran may also continue to file new claims while his appeal(s) pend.

If a Veteran requests a Regional Office hearing, this must be conducted  must receive the transcript before a decision can be rendered.  If the Veteran submits or identifies additional evidence, va must develop for and try to obtain the evidence prior to rendering a decision.  If VA examinations are deemed necessary,  va schedule these and wait for the examination reports before rendering a decision.

Once the appeal issues are ready for decision (RFD), ideally, NODs should be worked from the oldest pending to the newest received, with the exception of priorities, which include Homeless Veterans, Seriously Injured/Wounded Veterans, Congressional Inquiries, and Financial Hardship cases, etc.  Priorities are worked before all other pending claims.

This also means that a Veteran who has filed multiple NODs over time, may only receive a decision concerning his oldest pending NOD, while the issues contained in his other “younger” NODs remain pending.

The file is reviewed and decisions are rendered.  If all of the issues within an NOD can be granted in full, a rating is prepared to grant the issues.  Otherwise, va must issue a Statement of the Case (SOC) to the Veteran, which provides the applicable VA regulations and explains the reasons for the decision(s).

Once an SOC is issued, the DRO process is complete.  If the appeal continues, it is now under the Traditional appeals process.  DRO authority does not extend beyond the issuance of the SOC.

Just my opinion but 900 days without a word on anything is ridiculous and an attorney should have did something within the 1st 6 months of appeal. check on his claim...find out something.

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  • HadIt.com Elder
On ‎11‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 2:38 PM, sh912 said:

I have been waiting on a DRO review for over 900 days. My attorney hasnt heard anything and nobody at the knows anything except my file has not been touch since they received it. We didn't aak for a hearing just a review for tdiu and an increase on my mental health issues. I dont know what else i can do. Its also flagged as a hardship cause by still no movemment. is there any advice on how to get this moving. Please advise, im getting no help at all.

You don't say what rating level you are appealing from?  TDIU is pretty automatic if you have one disability rated at 60% or more or a combined rating of 70%.  If you are like me on the remand of my 1987 TDIU claim from a combined rating of 50% it needs to be reviewed by the Director of Compensation Services which hadn't been done.

I got a combined rating in July of 2009 of 70% with the "TBI" review so back to 2009 was easy for the BVA Judge to grant TDIU and should have been for the RO at the AOJ.  It is presumptive.

If you don't meet one of the presumptive standards you are in for a long wait.  I'm trying to break the wait with a FTCA 1151 filing (was given the wrong medication per the PDR for the type of seizures I had which made me worse and the physician wouldn't change the medication.) concurrently with CUE claims to make the AOJ take a better look at the 4,529 page Record Before the Agency and a lot of errors in the Rating Decisions and some errors in a 1990 BVA decision.  Most of the Rating Decision errors are definitely CUE.  The BVA decision rests upon whether the BVA read page two of my part time employer's statement and some documents that were missing from the file that should have been in.  Some recent decisions I've read on Hadit Forums make me feel positive about all of my CUE claims.

The only issue not remanded and denied was a revision of my tinnitus due to noise trauma.  A RO discovered I hadn't been granted the liberalization and awarded from 12091989 instead of going back to the liberalization date of 03161976.  My tinnitus is dated from 1964 with the first recording in 1965 on an EENT consult at Naval Hospital in Great Lakes, IL.  I didn't understand nor did my attorney pick up the "liberalization" clause.  I would also be able to use a CUE to apply the "liberalization clause" to a year earlier of my TBI.  It goes from the date of the condition or the date of liberalization which ever is earlier.  I didn't get the year allowed in the TBI change.

I think the Judge denied the revision of the date of tinnitus to give me something to do a Notice of Appeal on in order to get the Record Before the Agency and get the missing items that I pointed out in my hearing.  The more I deal with this the better I like the BVA Judge that I drew.

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