Retro claim Rare Condition

[mow59]

will try and keep this short and simple if possible.

2000 was rated for a TBI (SC) 10%,  my vertigo was considered a residual of it, No diagnosis for ear disease; just Hearing loss and  tinnitus (most symptoms listed as psychosomatic).

2017 diagnosed with a rare condition SCDS. (not discovered until 1998, and still not known in medical community.     Ear disorder.. Surgery to repair and now have residuals if not some of original symptoms.

VA claim in now for the SCDS and vertigo residuals of surgery,, any chance of them relating  my original vertigo symptoms to the ear disease and giving me retro back pay from my retirement claim? unusual case. there was no way for me to got diagnosis at that time because of the rarity of the condition.  

 thanks

[Berta]

"Any chance of them relating  my original vertigo symptoms to the ear disease and giving me retro back pay from my retirement claim? "

I think they would only go back to the 2017 claim date showing the diagnosis----

but "2000 was rated for a TBI (SC) 10%,  my vertigo was considered a residual of it,"

could they then take away the 10% for vertigo due to TBI?

Are your residuals higher than 10% now due either to the TBI or to the 

Superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS)

Are you sure your TBI was rated properly?

25,000 vets got letters in 2016 informing them their TBI C & P exams were not properly done.

I think you would still need a nexus for the SCDC unless that came from the TBI accident but you mighty need a hearing specialist to do an IME on that.

 

 

[Berta]

I found nothing at tyhe BVA on this rare condition.

So i googled it and this info popped up first:

"What causes superior canal dehiscence (SCD)? The true cause ofcanal dehiscence syndrome is unknown. The dehiscence may, at least in part, be congenital (present from birth) and may have occurred during the development of the inner ear. It can also be caused from certain infections as well as head trauma.

Superior Canal Dehiscence (SCD) | Cleveland Clinic"

It does state that head trauma (TBI) is one potential cause but if the C & P doc googles it and sees this first link he/she m,might go with "congenital" in order to deny the claim. Did this start with the TBI incident or prior to that?

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15266-superior-canal-dehiscence-scd

 

 

[broncovet]

Probably not.  You wont get an effective date earlier than when you filed for it.  There are almost no exceptions to this.  The general rule is that your effective date is the later of the date of claim or the facts found.  

One exception is if you applied within a year of service, then you can get an effective date back to the date of discharge.  

Claims are always done "in order":

1.  Service connection.

2.  Disability percentage.

3.  Effective date.  

     Focus on the first two, then your effective date.  If you get a favorable decision you can appeal an effective date if you dont like it.  They are done in this order for a reason:  More Vets can "get on the hamster wheel", since you have 3 chances to get on it:  SC, disability percentage, and effective date.  

By forcing Veterans to appeal "one" of these at a time, the VA can then put you on the hamster wheel 3 times...hornswaggling sc first, then disability percentage, and finally the effective date.  By doing it this way, they can drag out a claim that should be done in months for years and decades.  

[Buck52]

This one of the reasons I say file all your claims at once, the myth is that filing all claims at once will certainly slow your claims down, that could be some what true,  but by filing all your claims  starts your EED rather your denied or approved....so in my opinion It's always best to file all your claims at once, if you have all your evidence to prove these claims chances are you will be approved, if you are denied on a few.....you need to appeal those within a year ...eventually you will win  and having filed  and you win a few years later...you get your retro and  most of the time that retro can be a life changer.

[mow59]

On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 11:07 AM, Berta said:

I found nothing at the BVA on this rare condition.

So i googled it and this info popped up first:

"What causes superior canal dehiscence (SCD)? The true cause ofcanal dehiscence syndrome is unknown. The dehiscence may, at least in part, be congenital (present from birth) and may have occurred during the development of the inner ear. It can also be caused from certain infections as well as head trauma.

Superior Canal Dehiscence (SCD) | Cleveland Clinic"

It does state that head trauma (TBI) is one potential cause but if the C & P doc googles it and sees this first link he/she m,might go with "congenital" in order to deny the claim. Did this start with the TBI incident or prior to that?

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15266-superior-canal-dehiscence-scd

 

 

Provided good info on head trauma for claim(well excepted now) as a cause,,from UCLA and the people who study it,, Head trauma will aggravate a congenial condition.(ratable).,, All symptom's started and documented at the time of a vehicle accident    ,, Hello, the SCDS was never rated or diagnosed, (subjective vertigo and nystagmus noted twice in ADMR) not known about at that time, Most symptom's of my TBI were subjective and were considered psychosomatic,,NOT... believe I have the SC documented well. I have a vertigo tied to TBI as a residual..  

[mow59]

On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 2:03 PM, broncovet said:

Probably not.  You wont get an effective date earlier than when you filed for it.  There are almost no exceptions to this.  The general rule is that your effective date is the later of the date of claim or the facts found.  

One exception is if you applied within a year of service, then you can get an effective date back to the date of discharge.  

Claims are always done "in order":

1.  Service connection.

2.  Disability percentage.

3.  Effective date.  

     Focus on the first two, then your effective date.  If you get a favorable decision you can appeal an effective date if you dont like it.  They are done in this order for a reason:  More Vets can "get on the hamster wheel", since you have 3 chances to get on it:  SC, disability percentage, and effective date.  

By forcing Veterans to appeal "one" of these at a time, the VA can then put you on the hamster wheel 3 times...hornswaggling sc first, then disability percentage, and finally the effective date.  By doing it this way, they can drag out a claim that should be done in months for years and decades.  

Agree and that's what I've been told about order, Retro pay back to retirement ,, Only way I can imagine it, If they took the vertigo as a informal claim that was tagged to the TBI and not rated separately,( I believe claim would then still be considered open)  don't know if that is considered a cue ,, but irrelevant now..  now that I have a objective diagnosis and surgical repair. Don't know how they look at that situation.   I believe I will get SC, can only guess on percentage,, claim date I'm thinking ,, they went deferred yesterday and a request to VH for something, opinion or CPexam. so I'm hold right now..