Records

[Joey Ross]

How long can the VA hold up a Claim, if they are requesting records. Is there a limit on the number of times they can make the same request, before they are forced to go with the info they have?

[brokensoldier244th]

Yes. That’s always been the case, and that’s why we send like three increasingly amplified versions of the letter indicating finally that if they can’t be found, you need to get them to us out it will be rated without them. Vba processes the benefits, we don’t have anything to do with Nprc or your old unit/s not having records unless it’s Vamc related, and even then VBA and VAMC are different organizations so if Vamc doesn’t have them it’s not anything VBA can correct. 
 

this is a good time to remind you all that if you transfer Vamc it’s not assumed or automatic that your records transfer. We have a lot of vets that use more than one Vamc at a time, and each Vamc is separate from the other when it comes to record sharing. I can log into 1 program to look at records from vamc, but within that program I have to log onto each facility individually. 
 

so if you move somewhere else make sure you tell your Vamc that you are because just like civilian doctors there is no legal obligation to hold those medical records for more than a few years with no activity. Eventually they will be purged if you don’t say something or stop going to treatment entirely. 

[Joey Ross]

31 minutes ago, brokensoldier244th said:

Yes. That’s always been the case, and that’s why we send like three increasingly amplified versions of the letter indicating finally that if they can’t be found, you need to get them to us out it will be rated without them. Vba processes the benefits, we don’t have anything to do with Nprc or your old unit/s not having records unless it’s Vamc related, and even then VBA and VAMC are different organizations so if Vamc doesn’t have them it’s not anything VBA can correct. 
 

this is a good time to remind you all that if you transfer Vamc it’s not assumed or automatic that your records transfer. We have a lot of vets that use more than one Vamc at a time, and each Vamc is separate from the other when it comes to record sharing. I can log into 1 program to look at records from vamc, but within that program I have to log onto each facility individually. 
 

so if you move somewhere else make sure you tell your Vamc that you are because just like civilian doctors there is no legal obligation to hold those medical records for more than a few years with no activity. Eventually they will be purged if you don’t say something or stop going to treatment entirely. 

I've tried twice to get my service records from NPRC, and both times was told that they didn't have them. My DBQ's for MDD and PTSD look good from 2010 PSTD stressor guild lines.

[brokensoldier244th]

That may be true, but the doctor can only opine on symptoms, and any stressor that you discuss with them is subjective evidence vs objective if it cant be verified somehow- buddy letters, daily musters, AARs, order, various decorations that indicate conceded RVN or combat stressors, stuff like that. There are a lot of MH designations that resemble PTSD, for example, that also come with their own side dish of paranoid fixations, delusions, exaggerations of time and place (meaning inability to keep track of things- not deliberate exaggeration). I say this as an MH rated person-not PTSD. Ive researched my own condition over the years as a coping mechanism so ive picked up a lot of background info on other things, too. (thats outside my VA hat- I don't rate, or evaluate evidence submitted for any other reason than to determine whether or not you qualify for an exam under Caluza).  If the records of an action or event can't be found, its a lot more difficult for a rater to tie a stressor to PTSD. 

I will say that its not always just official records that can be submitted. Did you journal? Send letters home that mentioned time/place- even if not pinpoint specific? (opsec and all that) I got one guy an exam for PTSD based on a stressor that I found documented in Navy Times because his duty station was the ship on which the incident occurred, so even though his own records were thin, I found enough to put him in time, place, space to the event in question that way (It was an SAR incident, he was listed on his 214 as an SAR trainee at the time). Its not just 'official' DA, DOD, whatever stamped stuff that can count as evidence, at least as far as justifying the examination. When it comes to ratings decisions and evaluations- well, thats a whole barrel of crazy that im not involved in so im not a lot of help, there, I'm sorry. 

I'm like a paralegal beagle, or Radar O'reiley. That's my job- getting you the exams and making sure that all your submitted evidence is either of record, as complete as possible, requested, putting in repeated requests and followups to you or to the various records repositories, and requesting from you in accordance with M21. If I can verify MST or stressor, or at least plausibly do so, without bugging you guys/girls, I can and will schedule an exam for it. Thats actually in the regs, too- I try to be as hands off as possible and verify through whatever means I can without forcing you to relay it all to me over the phone or bugging you with letters. Certain things, though, require something more official, like exposure/AO type stuff. Those claims require me/you to actually prove you were in an area of exposure or an event(s) that would plausibly cause that to happen. 

[Joey Ross]

29 minutes ago, brokensoldier244th said:

That may be true, but the doctor can only opine on symptoms, and any stressor that you discuss with them is subjective evidence vs objective if it cant be verified somehow- buddy letters, daily musters, AARs, order, various decorations that indicate conceded RVN or combat stressors, stuff like that. There are a lot of MH designations that resemble PTSD, for example, that also come with their own side dish of paranoid fixations, delusions, exaggerations of time and place (meaning inability to keep track of things- not deliberate exaggeration). I say this as an MH rated person-not PTSD. Ive researched my own condition over the years as a coping mechanism so ive picked up a lot of background info on other things, too. (thats outside my VA hat- I don't rate, or evaluate evidence submitted for any other reason than to determine whether or not you qualify for an exam under Caluza).  If the records of an action or event can't be found, its a lot more difficult for a rater to tie a stressor to PTSD. 

I will say that its not always just official records that can be submitted. Did you journal? Send letters home that mentioned time/place- even if not pinpoint specific? (opsec and all that) I got one guy an exam for PTSD based on a stressor that I found documented in Navy Times because his duty station was the ship on which the incident occurred, so even though his own records were thin, I found enough to put him in time, place, space to the event in question that way (It was an SAR incident, he was listed on his 214 as an SAR trainee at the time). Its not just 'official' DA, DOD, whatever stamped stuff that can count as evidence, at least as far as justifying the examination. When it comes to ratings decisions and evaluations- well, thats a whole barrel of crazy that im not involved in so im not a lot of help, there, I'm sorry. 

I'm like a paralegal beagle, or Radar O'reiley. That's my job- getting you the exams and making sure that all your submitted evidence is either of record, as complete as possible, requested, putting in repeated requests and followups to you or to the various records repositories, and requesting from you in accordance with M21. If I can verify MST or stressor, or at least plausibly do so, without bugging you guys/girls, I can and will schedule an exam for it. Thats actually in the regs, too- I try to be as hands off as possible and verify through whatever means I can without forcing you to relay it all to me over the phone or bugging you with letters. Certain things, though, require something more official, like exposure/AO type stuff. Those claims require me/you to actually prove you were in an area of exposure or an event(s) that would plausibly cause that to happen. 

I have pics of me at the stressor, plus book about my unit in Iraq that the pic is from. I'm the first guy in the pic

Blue Falcons Strike Iraq 1991.pdf

[brokensoldier244th]

You're probably fine. I wasn't questioning your evidence, just explaining more in general how evidence can be provided and what kinds are admissible. 

Great book! I haven't read all of it, but Ive downloaded it to skim through. I love the index in the back- that is one of the most helpful things in any book, but especially historical documentations. 

[USMC_VET]

On 10/4/2020 at 7:28 AM, brokensoldier244th said:

Yes. That’s always been the case, and that’s why we send like three increasingly amplified versions of the letter indicating finally that if they can’t be found, you need to get them to us out it will be rated without them. Vba processes the benefits, we don’t have anything to do with Nprc or your old unit/s not having records unless it’s Vamc related, and even then VBA and VAMC are different organizations so if Vamc doesn’t have them it’s not anything VBA can correct. 
 

this is a good time to remind you all that if you transfer Vamc it’s not assumed or automatic that your records transfer. We have a lot of vets that use more than one Vamc at a time, and each Vamc is separate from the other when it comes to record sharing. I can log into 1 program to look at records from vamc, but within that program I have to log onto each facility individually. 
 

so if you move somewhere else make sure you tell your Vamc that you are because just like civilian doctors there is no legal obligation to hold those medical records for more than a few years with no activity. Eventually they will be purged if you don’t say something or stop going to treatment entirely. 

@brokensoldier244thanother reason why i always include in my claim the copies of my SMR and VA Med records that pertain to my claim.