Sleep Apnea

[blahsaysme2u]

i havent posted in a while. i was denied my claim for sleep apnea and got help from the state VSO because i couldnt get the vfw or DAV to return my phone calls. 

i in the army national guard. i was in 03-09 and was deployed to Iraq in 07-08. upon return i immediately went to the va and filed for benefits for health care. i was injured in iraq and filed claims for those. i also was having problems sleeping and the VA gave me a sleep study(4 months after discharge from active duty) and was diagnosed with sleep apnea. i filed a claim and it was denied. 

years have gone by since then and i was trying to get a claim for my sleep apnea once more. last year i submitted a claim(thinking the claim i submitted in 2008 cant be appeal etc.) i was denied a couple months ago again saying that my diagnosis was not "in service". now while i understand i was not active duty at the time of diagnosis, it was only 4 months after. also, where in Iraq would i have been able to get a sleep study done? 

i have been trying and trying to get help with this claim and doing research on my own. i was not getting anywhere. soooooo i went to the VSO. he immediately says "this is a CUE". he says that since the diagnosis was less than a year from discharge from active duty, i should have been granted service connection. so i am confused on this because its not listed by the VA as a presumed disease. is this CUE going to fail? if not, i was also denied service connection for my allergies that i was diagnosed with around the same time. should i file a CUE for that as well? 

 

[vetquest]

Yes, the VA very much dislikes to give awards in excess of $100,000 but if they would not take so long they would not have to give out these awards.

[GBArmy]

I just returned from a C&P on Sleep apnea this morning. I had an IMO and they wouldn't take a copy from me because she said she already saw it in my claim. She did say that there were a lot of good points in it that she could use; I take that is a positive. So, my point is, bring your dbq or IMO with you just in case your outside VA examiner wants tor see it (even though it might not be their standard policy because of AMA changes.) I asked if she would take something if it weren't in my claim file and she said sure. So be prepared folks!

[blahsaysme2u]

i have never had C&P for my OSA?!"???!?!?!?! i think you are lucky to have had this. i think that they know if a dr saw i was diagnosed within 1 year(actually specifically with 3 months of discharge) they would say yes i had OSA while in service and give me nexus. but the VA doesnt want to give that to me! so now i have to go outside and get my own IMO and get a DBQ filled out on my own and go before a judge and file a CUE and fight and fight and fight! 

NEVER GIVE UP

[63Charlie]

My attorney advised me that the VA has been putting extra effort into denying sleep apnea claims as of late.

I was going to file for OSA, but not worth it to me.

[blahsaysme2u]

yeah not if your at 100%. and if the EED is not going to be worth it i can understand. i have both things...its really frustrating. i was in Iraq during my "active duty" time, so there is no where i could have gotten a sleep study even done. for them to say that me coming home and going straight to the va and getting a sleep study done and getting diagnosed is not SC is just ridiculous and i should have won my CUE. 

[Willy P]

3 hours ago, blahsaysme2u said:

i have never had C&P for my OSA?!"???!?!?!?! i think you are lucky to have had this. i think that they know if a dr saw i was diagnosed within 1 year(actually specifically with 3 months of discharge) they would say yes i had OSA while in service and give me nexus. but the VA doesnt want to give that to me! so now i have to go outside and get my own IMO and get a DBQ filled out on my own and go before a judge and file a CUE and fight and fight and fight! 

NEVER GIVE UP

Very curious to see what your VSO puts together.

I've even thought about contacting the law firms, because 80% of 50K is still very much worth it.

To your point about the C&P, in my case it didn't even matter.  I had the diagnosis 6 months out, positive C&P opinion, and complaint of snoring in service, and the VA still denied it.  The IMO used the exact same information to agree with the C&P doc, so in my mind the VA messed this up.