Dementia

[Mercury-Vapor]

I am very confused about an appeal that I filed in February and hope someone can explain it to me.

I was rated up until February at 20% for some trauma injuries I had in Vietnam. I'd filed for several mental disorders and had three separate examinations for PTSD. The first two examiners stated my mental disorders were as likely as not and Most likely in that order. Included depression, anxiety, insomnia etc, but never a diagnosis of PTSD, even though my local VA has diagnosed PTSD. The last examiner was a jerk and seemed more interested in preventing me from getting any rating at all. An additional examination for TBI was conducted and I received 10% for it service connected injury.

I filed a NOD with all of my symptoms and I just looked at the appeal and the only disorder on the appeal states DEMENTIA.......WTF is that about? anyone?

Thanks

 

 

[GBArmy]

I will let someone else with experience talk to the MH issues specifically, but dollars to donuts what is happening is they are low-balling you. It's easy. Vietnam veteran; got to be late 60's  or older, right? Tag you with Dementia, not s-c, just an old age condition people get. Then, I think unless you can s-c to a TBI incident back in the day, you lose. And that's really a hard sell, because there won't be anything in your records because hey didn't invent TBI in the 60's. There are a lot of veterans on this blog that can help you in this fight. Don't give up!

[ShrekTheTank]

GBarmy is right on here.  They are just lowballing you and hoping you just shut up.  Be loud make some noise!  If you don't fight they feel justified in what they are doing.  The BVA looks at the facts for the most part and will call out the RO and stick them to the law.  So yes keep pushing and file a NOD!

[Buck52]

Mercury-Vapor ''Quoted''

''I was rated up until February at 20% for some trauma injuries I had in Vietnam. I'd filed for several mental disorders and had three separate examinations for PTSD. The first two examiners stated my mental disorders were as likely as not and Most likely in that order. Included depression, anxiety, insomnia etc, but never a diagnosis of PTSD, even though my local VA has diagnosed PTSD.''

  You do have something going for you   , your USN Right? unless you was on boat patrol (River Rats) boots on the ground and you got service connected for  a trauma event from Vietnam   no matter what the trauma was, you can get it service connected & rated   in your case you have a PTSD Diagnose by the VA.

    With the right SMR's medical records and a qualified MH Doc to say your PTSD is likely as not caused by your military service in Vietnam....Remember Veterans can only have one MH Rating  (depression) (anxiety)unspecified MH Disorders) ect,,,ect,,  so usually they are suppose to S.C. and rate the most severe of all these conditions/symptoms...,,,,ok if you have been diagnosed for PTSD  look at all your symptoms and check the rating criteria  the C&P Examiner has written in his/her report   Appeal the Demetia decision and request they look at the PTSD and your symptoms they say you have.....they rate PTSD on the severity of the symptoms  or request you be rated to  the highest rating by law/Also look into the TBI Criteria too  they can differentiate the two. 

then let them figure out the two? PTSD/TBI

Also you being a Navy Veterans check the BW Veterans new Criteria  for service connected conditions.

Edited July 21, 2019 by Buck52

[vetquest]

Good advice from Buck52.  I would wait for your NOD and highlight the two exams that are good and play down the exam that is bad.  Since you have had three exams in a row they should not cherry pick the exam that shows you are good to go.  I would also highlight that the VA has diagnosed you with PTSD.  The VA is not supposed to develop to deny and this looks like your situation, keep sending you to exams until they get the desired result.  You can have PTSD if you were not in combat.  I had an injury where I should have died and have seen others die from it.

38 CFR § 3.102 - Reasonable doubt: states that if you have positive and negative evidence in your claim it is supposed to ruled in favor of the veteran. 

38 U.S.C.A § 1114:  The VA has a duty to fully and sympathetically develop a veteran's claim to its optimum, which includes determining all potential claims raised by the evidence and applying all relevant laws and regulations. Moody v. Principi, 360 F.3d 1306, 1310 (Fed. Cir. 2004).  

[Berta]

Dementia can occur from brain trauma- TBI, stroke, Alzheimer's  etc etc. but there are other reasons as well.

This case shows how they should rate dementia-however DC 8046 only involves cerebral arteriosclerosis.

As the regulation states, 8046 - 

https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/files5/1639000.txt

 

This case might explain it better:

"The Veteran's TIA is rated under Diagnostic Code 8046. Purely neurological disabilities, such as hemiplegia, cranial nerve paralysis, etc., due to cerebral arteriosclerosis will be rated under the Diagnostic Codes dealing with such specific disabilities, with citation of a hyphenated diagnostic code (e.g., 8046-8207). Purely subjective complaints such as headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, insomnia, and irritability, recognized as symptomatic of a properly diagnosed cerebral arteriosclerosis, will be rated 10 percent and no more under Diagnostic Code 9305. This 10 percent rating will not be combined with any other rating for a disability due to cerebral or generalized arteriosclerosis. Ratings in excess of 10 percent for cerebral arteriosclerosis under diagnostic code 9305 are not assignable in the absence of a diagnosis of multi-infarct dementia with cerebral arteriosclerosis. The ratings under Diagnostic Code 8046 apply only when the diagnosis of cerebral arteriosclerosis is substantiated by the entire clinical picture and not solely on findings of retinal arteriosclerosis. 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, Diagnostic Code 8046."

https://www.va.gov/vetapp16/files6/1646017.txt

My husband had multi infarct dementia ( 1151 100% P & T stroke) 

The Director of my RO insinuated  he was cured before he died.(actually what she said was he was 100% for the 1151 stroke, but Not Permanent, at death. That defies basic VA case law and also common sense, and everything in his VA medical records.To include 2 Peer reviews for my FTCA case.

I reported this to the VA OIG.

This was by 2 phone calls from her, telling me that my claim was "OVER".

She is not a doctor, and this RO has denied every claim I filed because they refused to read the evidence. I succeeded anyhow in all of them but this one is different.I will succeed.

The autopsy and death certificate clearly indicate she was dead wrong. I had plenty of evidence from VA itself, among other entities that the stroke made him 100% T & P  until he died.

If I were you I would certainly ask what they contribute to dementia to.

I hope you have a complete copy of your VA medical records.

After my initial Medical record request long ago, other records have turned up since, that should have been in the medical file all along. Some are from a VA Neuro who declared my husband P & T in 1993 in a stroke residual C & P exam.

I guess it is the MF's work-

MF- VARO's  mysterious force who removes probative evidence from your records and C file, and then sometimes, obviously, puts the stuff back in the file, after they deny.Or if you question it as I did some months ago- VA did a thorough search and sent me much more. 

 

 

 

[Mercury-Vapor]

Yes I was brown water navy out of CamRahn. I have 10% rating for TBI moderate.