Sleep Apnea Secondary to PTSD

[Jonathan AF]

I recently did a home study from the VA, and my results are as follows (see attached):

 

Min SpO2: 78.0%

Total RDI: 50.2

Findings: Snoring & Obstructive apneas/hypoapneas

Impression: OSA (G47.33) ("severe" is handwritten next to this).

They set me up with a CPAP machine to wear each night.

I am currently 30% rated for PTSD.  Based on this, can anyone tell what my rating would be filing sleep apnea as secondary to PTSD?

Edited July 3, 2019 by Jonathan AF
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[Jonathan AF]

26 minutes ago, Buck52 said:

He should, Most Dr's That are Veteran Friendly  knows to use that type of lingo.

Ken Carpenter is good attorney, if they charge you 30%  that's a little pricey  ,but if you agree then that's between the  you the Veteran and the Attorney ,.... HOWEVER YOU MAY HAVE A DIFFICULT CLAIM? SO WELL WORTH IT.

  Normal price is 20%...but like everything else  prices are on the rise  no matter what it is.

I bet you have this 

Good Luck!!!

 

Here's the letter the doctor wrote for me.

DR_READY_IMO.pdf

[Buck52]

It's an ok letter for a nexus  but the Dr Needed to state   that the C-PAP Machine is  medically Necessity to use for this veterans health  or something close....ect,,,ect,,,(jmo)

They may come back and say although your Dr mention you use a  C-PAP Machine  he did not say it was medially necessary to use  or something close to this ....  just so they can deny. (jmo)

but this letter might work  if the rater has an common sense?

.just have  wait & see what the rater says?

[Patton]

Buck is correct and I would like to add that when I have used a IMO in the past, the Doctor included Medical research documentation to back up his finding. Attached is one that Dr. Burgest did for me for an increase for GERD. The VA approved my increase without a new C&P Exam. He also included my Medical Records backing up his opinion. 

Page 3-10 GERD Increse-DBQ.pdf

[Patton]

8 hours ago, Jonathan AF said:

Just heard from attorney's office:

 

"Jonathan:  I had my meeting with Mr. Carpenter earlier this morning,  he reviewed your information and determined he is willing to represent you.  I then checked my e-mail and received your Rating Decision.  We are sending you forms to complete, including the fee contract, this will probably be mailed out to you sometime next week.  Are you agreeable to proceeding with us? If so, we will also wait for you to e-mail  the doctor's opinion letter.

 

Cordially,

 

Catherine"

That is great news! Best of luck!

[Buck52]

Yes the Dr needs to say he has read your pertain medical records on this medical issue and give her/his professional medical opinion with his/her medical credentials  it is likely as not'' cause or related to..... if you have not sent this Nexus in just yet you may want to recheck with your Dr..see if he/she will reword this..if not then you just have to see what the rater decision will be?   I think its 50/50 chance to be favorable ...you can always appeal if you get denied.

[Jonathan AF]

On 8/17/2019 at 4:25 AM, Buck52 said:

Yes the Dr needs to say he has read your pertain medical records on this medical issue and give her/his professional medical opinion with his/her medical credentials  it is likely as not'' cause or related to..... if you have not sent this Nexus in just yet you may want to recheck with your Dr..see if he/she will reword this..if not then you just have to see what the rater decision will be?   I think its 50/50 chance to be favorable ...you can always appeal if you get denied.

Yea it's probably 50/50.  I may also get another IMO and ensure they include all that.  If I can get 2 of them saying the same thing, I would think it'd better a better shot at getting approved.  However, comma, these Dr. visits are not cheap, and I do not have insurance cuz I use the VA for everything.  

The attorney I am using is supposedly pretty good, so I'm guessing he can tell me anything else I need to do.  I did upload a lot of peer reviewed papers on the subject in my favor, but they never went to a "reviewed" status in the original claim.

So the attorney did reply back with this:

"Jonathan: You do not need to anything at this time, Mr. Carpenter is planning on doing the appeal, he needs to determine whether it will be a Supplemental Claim or High Level Review (under the VA's new system), if we need for you to do anything we will let you know, we will be sending you the packet of forms this week."

From what I've read, a Supplemental Claim would be more applicable, since I have "new evidence".

https://www.va.gov/decision-reviews/supplemental-claim/