tinnitus Hearing Loss, Vertigo, Meniere's

[kkp]

The following is a list of the evidence I am sending with my claim:

3. from Dr. L dated September 9, 1993.

4. Reports from Dr. L dated March 24, 1995.

5. CT scan dated 9/9/04

6. MRl dated 11/20/04.

1. Separation examination hearing test

2. Letter creating nexus from hearing damage in military to date from M.A.,CCC-A

M.A, Hearing Center dated 12/22/06 ..

7. Hearing graph from V A Hospital dated 5/10/05.

8. Hearing graph from Dr. A. , dated 8/25/04.

9. Hearing graph from --- Hearing Center dated 8/27/01.

10. Hearing graph from ---- Hearing Center dated 7/12/02.

11. Hearing graph from ---Hearing Center dated 1/1/01.

12. Hearing graph from A. ---- Jr., MD dated 9/23/92. 9. Military records dated May 1963.

13. Military records dated September 20, 1963.

14. Military records dated August 20, 1965.

15. Reports from Dr. l--- dated May 13, 1980.

16. Reports from Dr. L---- dated May 19, 1981

17. Reports from Dr. L---dated September 29, 1988.

18. Reports VA Hospital- 11/2/05

19. VA Hospital- 5/1 0/05

20. VA Hospital-1O/27/05 22. VA Hospital- 2/15/06 23 . VA Hospital - 4/10/06

21. VA Hospital- 6/30/06

22. VA Hospital- 9/13/02

I, ---------, was in the Army from 1962 through 1965 My Army Serial Number is ---------. My MOS was a rifleman for one year and a machine gunner for two years. I probably shot 1000+ ammo boxes of 30-caliber machine gun shells. My ears have been ringing since I became a machine gunner. My left ear has never ceased to ring. I have spells of vertigo dating back to 1963 but I can't prove it because only candies went to the dispensary from my outfit. My family doctor from 1966 to 1980 died and we cannot get his records but I do have records from 1980 to date that describes hearing loss, vertigo, Meniere's Disease, and all of these symptoms severe since 1985. I am presently being treated at the V A Hospital for all of the above.

At the present time I stagger, I can't ride elevators, I can't fly, and I can't ride in an automobile unless I am driving and then there can't be any curvy roads. My left ear rings constantly, I can hardly understand anything that most people say and I get sick looking at wall paper with various colors and even shadows from trees across the highway while driving. When I turn over in bed, at times I get sick. If I am startled and have to turn my head to the left or to the right quickly, I will fall in that direction. If I look up, I fall backwards. However, I can look down. I can hardly watch sports on TV because of the movements of the players in so many directions at one time plus the colors of the uniforms make me sick. I can go on but I think you get the point. My best time is sitting straight up in a straight back chair.

Sincerely,

~~~~

, MA --------- HEARING CENTER

Dec. 22, 2006

RE:---------------------

!mr. ----------------- has hearing loss, tinnitus and vertigo. Fact: MR.----------------- complained of healing loss while actively serving in the military as evidenced by his records in may, 1964, Fact: mr Persinger first cornplained of dizziness after 1 year in the military during an exam 20 September 1963. Fact: mr------ exhibited hearing loss at his separation examination. Fact: mr------------ was exposed to noise while in the Army at levels that could cause hearing loss. Fact: mr---------- was diagnosed with Meniere's disease with symptoms dating back to the Army. Fact: :Mr. ---------'S hearing has continued to decrease as evidenced by his audiograms which is consistent with Meniere's disease .

. -

It is highly probable to this daim of the nexus between service and his current medical condition. In my opinion, the currently existing medical conditions of hearing loss, vertigo, tinnitus and diagnosed meniere's disease are related to an injury, disease or event occurring during the veteran's military service.

-------------------- m.A.,CCC-A

I have a case before the rating board now, but was advised to go ahead and file this claim. As can be seen I am not to good at copy and pasting, as1 through 6 proves

The first page is a cover sheet and I sent documentatin of everything. I verified it was put in the ro's computer on the 27th of jan 2007.

I thought that perhaps this could help someone else in preparing a claim. This along with corrections by you Guys.

kkp

[JohnM]

what was the reason for John's denial?

We have not recieved the paper work as of yet, nothing was mentioned on the hearing and the doctor had wrote down on the records that his hearing, tintinus, was not from military. Although she also wrote that his SMR's show hearing loss not once but three times it is written down that he has a high frequency hearing loss, and enlistment exam said he had good hearing when he enlisted. So yes we will fight this one, even if it is 10-20 %. after all it is on record.Once we recieve the paper work I will let you know what it has down. It should be coming any day now.

[kkp]

Berta

I did all my own work on my case except the actual claim . As I have stated befor we do not have an va rep in our area at present, and havn't for over a year. We still have a secretary holding down the fort. I took my claim to her at the direction of the rep I made contact whith. His office is in the Huntington Ro.

This is the wording they put on the claim. ( statement in support of claim)

Sirs;

veteran wishes to file sc bilateral hearing loss, Left ear tinnitus, vertigo, & Meniere's desease

Please find attached

and then she Wrote out 1-22 that I already had on my cover letter.

1968 army vet and Jonh M

It really sounds like you guys are getting a raw deal. I'll proably get the same results. But it never hurts to give a shot.

Good luck with your nod's and appleals

kkp

[kkp]

1968 Army vv I have been keeping a keen eye open for news on any of your claims. Be glad to keep you guys up to date, as I am sure you'll do the same.

I talk to my rep who has his office in the ro last week, He seemed surprized at how fast the claim was moving through the system, but we all know how fast it can stop. I had another claim ready to be decided. It was for iu, and was being sent to the second rater when I was (advised to and did) file this claim. we'll see.

kkp

[JohnM]

We have not recieved the paper work as of yet, nothing was mentioned on the hearing and the doctor had wrote down on the records that his hearing, tintinus, was not from military. Although she also wrote that his SMR's show hearing loss not once but three times it is written down that he has a high frequency hearing loss, and enlistment exam said he had good hearing when he enlisted. So yes we will fight this one, even if it is 10-20 %. after all it is on record.Once we recieve the paper work I will let you know what it has down. It should be coming any day now.

The reason for John's denal waswas he had a decreases hearing awcuity, but still normal hearing for VA purpose. Although as a Result inservice noise exposure is conceded, the same for tinnitus. But it is what the C&P doc. wrote down that they denied.

[Objee]

Suggestion on how to approach appeals.....

You have the Decision Letter in hand and disagree with some or all of the decision. It's NOD time now.

Check over the list of evidence in the Decision Letter. Compare that with the writeup (justification) for

the decision the RO rendered. Is any important evidence ignored (not mentioned) in the writeup? If so,

you'll need to bring it back into the NOD. I list it as "countering medical evidence" and go on to explain

how it should have been included in the decision process. You may also want to strengthen ignored

evidence with an IMO or other supplemental evidence.

The point is: An appeal isn't a passive process. It can be driven by the claimant. Rememebr that a DRO

review is de novo - it's a totally new look - see at the ENTIRE claim. The review effectively gives you a

chance to refile the same claim you just had decided, strengthened with countering evidence that refutes

the reasons for denial! Same with a Form 9 going to BVA.

Hope this helps.

Ralph

Berta

I did all my own work on my case except the actual claim . As I have stated befor we do not have an va rep in our area at present, and havn't for over a year. We still have a secretary holding down the fort. I took my claim to her at the direction of the rep I made contact whith. His office is in the Huntington Ro.

This is the wording they put on the claim. ( statement in support of claim)

Sirs;

veteran wishes to file sc bilateral hearing loss, Left ear tinnitus, vertigo, & Meniere's desease

Please find attached

and then she Wrote out 1-22 that I already had on my cover letter.

1968 army vet and Jonh M

It really sounds like you guys are getting a raw deal. I'll proably get the same results. But it never hurts to give a shot.

Good luck with your nod's and appleals

kkp

[sixthscents]

I'm going to watch this one too as I have a current advocacy claim for Meniere's waiting for rating. The NOD process is exactly as described though... you get to basically rethink your strategy on how to present your claim... (nope I didnt mean fudge it up some more).. but since you see what the rater has decided and their REASONING, you can specifically target their comments with evidence which supports YOUR claim, and refutes their decision. Now if the NOD is not successful what have you gained... well you have a SECOND line of reasoning that you can further address, and "PERFECT" your claim with... for the formal appeals process...

You can almost always see when someone has NOT gone thru this with a claim... they are blatently flawed... again and again simple mistakes lead to denials at VACA that could have been addressed well beforehand. You just pull up the last 100 or so cases and over 50% of them are shot down without even having to look into the reg, and I can do it with my limited experience. So, this time is NOT wasted even if you end up with another denial... it shows what parts of your claim are weak... then you start thinking "OK how do I answer these challenges"

1. Specific testing to address and disprove decisions based on other less substantial evidence... i.e an MRI showing what YOU claim vs. an X-Ray showing what the VA claims... EMG's, myleograms, hearing testing etc.... SPECIFIC testing to address specific answers or questions which made a claim LESS valid, but can be very telling in an appeal

2. IMO's... again in the same context with the same reasoning...but lets say you get a specialists opinion, as compared to a general practitioners from the VA...

3. Missing or missed medical records. A C-File is good here... since you can see what they actually used, and then show where THEY made the mistake...

4. Statements from spouses, members of the community etc. which support your claim (if applicable)... Ex-employers, stating as to you work ability and how it declined perhaps... etc.

5. Statements from the VA themselves thru further testing, or other programs such as voc rehab... these can also be telling since there is seldom a cessation of care pending claim results... so NEW test from the VA, or NEW opinions from the VA or other govenment agencies (Social Security... Human Resource Agency... Unemployment Office etc...)

any combination of these or many others will be ESSENTIAL in filing a "good" claim....

or you can just submit the thing and hope... but I dont base my future on hoping... and I doubt you do either...

Is this doing the VA's work for them...... well yes.... and? The system is the system... we have to deal with what we have not what we wish... so good luck and I will be watching because like I said, I have a advocacy case pending....