CAPD CUE review

[blahsaysme2u]

below is my personal statement for my hearing loss. i beleive this might be a CUE and have outlined in my statement why i belive that. if anyone has any input on this i greatly appreciate your help! please if you have any follow up questions regarding my denials etc let me know

tahnks again in advance

PERSONAL STATEMENT:

I started having these symptoms after the IED explosion I was involved in while serving in Iraq, which I suffered a mTBI (please refer to the provided personal statement regarding the event). Before the event, I was a good student in school, usually getting A’-B’s, and never presented or was diagnosed with any attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD], language impairment, and learning disabilities. None of the other symptoms misunderstanding or difficulty “hearing” movies, songs, etc. presented them selves until 2008, after the event.

During my tour in Iraq (9/2017 -4/2018), I was also exposed to a fuel known as JP8. We used multi-fuel vehicles during our convoy missions, and JP8 was the primary fuel we used. I was exposed to JP8 at least 3 times a week (as many as 5x) during this period for missions that lasted from 8-12 hours depending on the trip. Fueling was done before and after each mission which could be as long as an hour of waiting and fueling before the mission and sometimes as long as 2 hours after a mission; exposure to JP8 fumes during this period as well as the exhaust during the missions. On long missions that required return of the same convoy we came with, we also would fuel before the return trip.

The symptoms I have are listed below:

·        difficulty understanding or following conversations with competing background noise

·        problems understanding dialogue on tv or in movies (often requiring use of closed captioning)

·        struggle to understand or make sense of song lyrics (misinterpreting whole phrases and cannot hear the correct phrase even after being told what the actual lyrics; i.e. “Wild Thoughts” by Rhianna(thinking the chorus that contains the same name as the song is saying “When I'm with you, all I get is why-thos”) and “Got Whatever It Is” by Zac Brown Band (thinking the chorus that contains the same name as the song is saying ”she goggle pennants” and the phrase “you got whatever it is” is saying “gobble gebble goo”)

·        confusion of names of people with who I have had long relationships with close alternatives names that are not correct (i.e. Diana and Deanna, Sidney and Cindy, Micaiah and Mikala)

·        strain to locate direction of sounds, in silence and with background noise

·        difficulty following conversations that are rapid fire or fast speakers

·        Frequent requests for repetitions, saying “what” and “huh” frequently

·        Misunderstanding for sarcasm or other tone and sentence cadence that give clues to speaker’s intent, which result in Inconsistent or inappropriate responses

·        sounds like listening to through water

·        difficulty understand children (while others around me understand them and help me with grasping what is being said)

·        feeling exhausted from listening

The symptoms I have experienced do not equate to an organic hearing loss (outer or middle ear or hearing loss at the level of the cochlea or auditory nerve) that can be detected by standardized puretone audiometry frequency and speech discrimination testing I have had done in the past. All my hearing tests done by the VA and from my outside audiologist reflect normal organic hearing along with undamaged structures in my ears. This lead me to seek out another explanation for the auditory problems I have been suffering with that eventually pointed to CAPD.

The VA has provided information and studies that have linked blast injuries to CAPD. JP8 was also linked in the disorder (please see below links to VA websites provided information). With these clear connections, my exposure and injuries, my symptoms and the clear diagnosis by a licensed audiologist the obvious link to service is distinct.

I also have been reporting these problems since 2008 when I first filed a claim for hearing loss. I described these symptoms to the VA audiologist at that time with no mention of CAPD as a possibility. A normal standardized puretone audiometry frequency and speech discrimination hearing test was done that showed no discernable hearing loss and my claim was denied. I again put forth a claim in January 2019, saw the VA audiologist, described the symptoms above and the result was a normal standardized puretone audiometry frequency and speech discrimination hearing test was done that showed no discernable hearing loss and my claim was denied again. This is a “Clear And Unmistakable Error” by the VA in their “duty to assist” me as the veteran in my claim of hearing problems. Regardless of how and what label is used to file a claim, the claim should be evaluated by the symptoms reported by a veteran, and if further testing or examinations are needed, it is the duty of the VA to provide these. The correct facts were therefore not before the adjudicator, resulting in a denial of claims based on the facts provided to the adjudicator at the time of review. This is not an argument or disagreement with how the facts were weighed or to correct and an earlier diagnosis to CAPD, but rather the fact that the VA failed to assist me as the veteran to have the correct examination/testing based on my reported symptoms during the C&P (Compensation and Pension) examinations and hearing testing and get those results before the adjudicator is an undebatable error. If the correct facts would have been provided, a clear service connection for CAPD would have been given in 2008. -§3.159  Department of Veterans Affairs assistance in developing claims(c)(4)

 *****UPDATE****

DID NOT FILE CUE BASED ON DTA. PLEASE READ THREAD TO SEE BERTA EXPLANATION ON WHY THIS IS NOT VALID! BUT MAYBE CUE FOR OTHER REASONS. STILL PENDING AS OF 4/17/2020

Edited April 17, 2020 by blahsaysme2u

[blahsaysme2u]

this is what happened to me....i was already dx with TBI so they just upped my TBI rating to 70%...was a win but not the win i was looking for...in the end i guess it works out...i hope in the future CAPD is acknowledged as a separate disease from TBI bc lots of veterans  i know personally have symptoms and are told they dont have hearing loss and never win anything. its a shame

[camoto]

On 12/12/2022 at 8:56 AM, CAPDvet said:

In September after 6 years my appeal was granted for CAPD linked to jet fuel exposure.  I am happy to share research I've found. They awarded me 10% but my lawyer is fighting it.  

Hi I am new here and found this thread because I am searching on how to deal with a CAPD claim.  I have have been battling the VA for this and it just keeps going back and forth.

1.) Claim opened as "bilateral hearing loss" but submitted with all of the CAPD evidence (but no formal diagnosis)

• Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied because there is no evidence that you currently have hearing loss for VA purposes. (38 CFR 3.303, 38 CFR 3.304, 38 CFR 3.385)
• The evidence shows that a qualifying event, injury, or disease had its onset during your service. Your DD214 documents a military occupational specialty of Tactical Aircraft Maintenance Specialist which has a high probability for noise exposure.
• A nexus, or link, has been established between your claimed issue and an in-service event or injury. Your examiner provided an opinion that linked your hearing loss to in-service acoustic trauma.

2.) New claim opened for "CAPD" as the condition.  

• The VA closed this claim and told me I had submitted it wrong and it must be filed as "hearing loss".

3.) I obtained a VA doctor diagnosis and opened a supplemental claim referencing in my VA medical record:

• The Veteran failed two measures of binaural integration (Dichotic Digits and DSI) so a diagnosis of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder is appropriate. Veteran has a history of Jet Propulsion Fuel-8 (JP-8) exposure. Research shows that exposure to jet fuels impacts central nervous function and, in combination with noise exposure, may have detrimental auditory processing effects.
• This claim was also denied with the same response as the first.

I'm at a loss as how this is supposed to work.  Do I now file for an HLR?  

[CAPDvet]

I couldn't tell you what the next step is. I had to hire a lawyer to get me where I am.  It took me 6 years in the appeal process to get my CAPD granted. I had a diagnosis from a VA neurosurgeon but still had to have my lawyer find a doctor to provide a nexus letter.
 
    The VA granted  my CAPD  in Sept. 2023 as a neurological disorder and just recently more specifically as central nervous system.  They initially rated it at 10% but we fought that and I'm still waiting on the VA for their final rating decision.

It sounds like you have what you need from the doctor.  Hopefully you are working with a good VSO that can help guide you in next steps.  I have a bunch of research that links JP8 and noise exposure to hearing loss.  I sent you a message on here if you want it.  
 

Never give up!  Good luck.