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AM I BEING BADMOUTHED BY AN ATTORNEY?

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63Charlie

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The last attorney I had refused to answer or return my phone calls.

She made a decision, without informing me, to withdraw two appeals via her "contact" at the St Petersburg VA Regional Office that I had submitted for hearing loss and tinnitus 

 

I revoked her legal representation.

 

This attorney refuses to waive the legal fees.

I have tried, without success, to obtain new legal representation by other law firms.

Once I send the law firm the letter they request showing where I released my former attorney, usually in a day or two, I get contacted informing me they will not be able to take my appeals.

One attorney told me he was going to call and speak with my former attorney before he took my case.

After their discussion, he declined to represent me.

I have asked other law firms why they refused to take my appeals, and the standard response is, "We are declining representation and by our actions of refusal of representation does not indicate that your appeals are without merit.."

 

 

Edited by 63Charlie
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I worked as a tracked vehicle mechanic, mostly 671 Detroit Diesel engines in various types of APCs.

I submitted a VA FAST letter for my MOS as a high probability of noise exposure.

VA acknowledged high frequency hearing loss in service but denied my hearing loss and tinnitus.

I have never applied for any disabilities unless I had proof in my service treatment records of complaints  for the disabilities I apply for.

The VBA isn't a genie in a bottle that will grant me three wishes.

 

Back in the Army, I went on sick call complaining I couldn't hear out of my right ear, right ear pain, and it felt like I had water plugging it up.

Shortly afterwards, I had a dizzy spell and went back on sick call for that.

A month later after the sick calls, I had a standard audiogram the Army uses to test soldiers in high noise exposure occupations, and it showed multiple 15 db standard threshold shifts in the right ear on low frequencies.

 

Post service I have a lengthy medical history of balance disorder, ringing in my ears, dizziness(vertigo).

Was treated by VA docs for five years for these symptoms , 2007-2012.

 No tinnitus diagnosis after complaining multiple times that my ears were ringing.

 

Was diagnosed by my private care ENT about a month ago that I have Meniere's disease causing the vertigo and ringing in my ears.

He used a medical term that sounded like hydrops  and said it was an inner ear disorder.

I have an audiogram scheduled by my private care doctor in a few weeks

Before I submit a claim for Meniere's Disease, I will submit my personal lay statement, medical diagnostics, and, most importantly, a nexus letter as a fully developed claim.

 

I hope I can get  some relief from the VA C&P exam as inadequate because the examiner's DBQ was full of factual inaccuracies.

He stated I had no ear related problems in service and no hearing loss or standard threshold shifts.

When the examiner did the Immitance Test, he checked the normal  box on the DBQ.

Right under that box , the examiner noted I have abnormal contralateral acoustic reflexes.

All I can expect from the bad C&P exam would be a new exam ordered by the DRO, or a remand if it goes to the BVA.

I'm hoping I DON"T qualify for VA hearing loss , hoping it is mild, but will know soon.

 

Nothing unexpected here for those that have been fighting the VA for benefits themselves.

It is what it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by 63Charlie
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On 7/17/2018 at 8:07 PM, asknod said:

 A c&p examiner is not there to diagnose you. He merely reports what he finds. As far as I know there is no Tinnitusmeter that can measure it. It's a purely subjective diagnosis. If you never mentioned it in service (tinnitus-not hearing loss), then he cannot dx it in a c&p. The VA examiner can but he didn't. Seems you need to go back to the Caluza triangle we teach here. That's the recipe for a chicken dinner winner. I hope you took your military medrecs in with you to show the c&p guy. That almost always works. 

I will have my STRs from now on when I go to a C&P exam and other pertinent information.

I want to "help" them get what they need.

Had one examiner who arrived 45 minutes late for my exam, tell me he didn't have time to go through 4000 pages of my records.

Said it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Yep.

Not a favorable exam as expected by those negative remarks.

BTW, sir, I appreciate your feedback.

I have made mistakes doing this stuff.

Edited by 63Charlie
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  • HadIt.com Elder

There is not a diagnose for tinnitus, its a subjective  condition  and there is no known medical reason why it happens  it just happens and its not caused by hearing loss , its just that its in the head and they don't know what its cause is.

so when you go for a hearing test   and after the hearing test is completed you need to mention about it then   how you hear a ringing sound in your head/ earsor buzzing sounds  or a humm or crickets chirping  ect,,ect,, what ever it sounds like in your head mention that to the Audiologist that performed your hearing test  and tell them the sound is constant its always there and drives you batty especially at bed time

The Audiologist should mention this in your medical records  that you describe a sound in your head  ringing /cherping sounds you hear in your head this is known to be tinnitus...that's about all you need for a tinnitus diagnose  if there is one?

 Tinnitus you can get 10% only for both ears and you don't have to  have a hearing loss  usually  you can be rated for tinnitus and nothing for hearing loss  maybe service connected for it  but usually a 0% 

with VA  hearing loss criteria you can get hearing aids  but to get compensation over 10% for it you need to show  MILD LOSS of hearing loss, it will either be a mild loss or profound loss one or the other, if your 50% for hearing loss your dang near deaf.

they rate both ears  you can have a 50%loss in one ear and a 10%loss in the other  they rate each ear separate.  then they use a combined  special rating table to figure the over haul percentage that would be consider a profound loss of hearing   anything higher would be a severe profound loss of hearing bilateral and bad word discrimination slur speech at times. & usually warrants a higher percentage of hearing loss

these testing # will reveal how much hearing loss you have. VA is very stubborn for hearing loss comp.

ratings of the ear  CFR 4.87

So you may want to go get a Private Hearing Test from a qualified Audiologist that uses the VA Guidelines for hearing loss&the Maryland CNC Word test   which the Dr can get the CD from the VA.

Edited by Buck52
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