Requested Increase, and they removed my Service Connection!

[flow1972]

Every interaction with the VA Claims people makes me want to pull my hair out.  I was granted SC for Asthma last year at 10% as worsened by service.  10% because I was on an Albuterol Inhaler as needed.

I submitted a Claim to increase the rating to 30% because I was recently put on an inhaled cortiso-steroid which would put me at 30%.  I'll be damned if they didn't even examine me for it...they requested a DBQ from a Dr I've never seen who "decided" that basically it never should have been SC'd in the first place because though it does show I had to be treated in service and prescribed an inhaler (literally states I'd never needed one in 11 years prior to service) that he doesn't really think I even "have asthma" but if I do...it wasn't "worsened beyond normal disease progression".. Wait what?  I don't really have it...but just in case..it didn't get worse by more than it would normally have.  OMG!!!!  I want to freaking scream right now!!!!  He literally wrote some lengthy diatribe of my history where he double-talks the entire way through.  Just exactly what IS "normal progression" for a disease I don't have, Mr. Asthma expert?  He literally says two different things in one statement.  Notes I've only been seen X amount of times...blah, blah, blah.  Well, let me tell ya, Mr. Expert.  The reg does not in any way state I have to be seen a specific number of times.  Considering I hadn't been seen AT ALL for 11 years for anything even resembling Asthma prior to service...then even ONCE is MORE than before.  What it states is was it "worsened"?  No visits, no meds...to visits and meds = worse.  I'm D-O-N-E with these idiots.  I'm literally going to get a lawyer to deal with them.  I am literally at 91.37% (was 92.23) with an open HLR on incorrect rating that should have also been at 30% with another open new Claim.  This is nothing more than them TRYING TO KEEP VETERAN's FROM HITTING 100%!  

 

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by flow1972

[TRIPnDALES]

Hello,  I have been going thru similar issues to many of you.  My latest and most aggravating has been a claim for PTSD.  I have gone all the way to DC above the VBA head and still lost because of the very 1st C&P examiners word play! 

Instead of granting PTSD which I was actually diagnosed by a VA Dr in Daytona Beach many years ago, This Examiner determined during a 15 min exam that I was in fact ASPD (Anti Social Personality Disorder) and not PTSD.   ASPD is not a S/C disability.

I filed my NOD, and on and on.  after a few remands to the rating officer and also VBA,  I was able to get a very lucky 2nd C&P exam with a LHI contractor who was a real nail in my coffin!  

This woohoo, admitted when I arrived to an office with nobody or any lobby furniture/lights and only his office told me, He was sorry, he did not receive a chance to review my previous records?  I am pretty sure the APA requires a review of all records and also a diagnosis in you pre teen years to be given an accurate diagnosis of ASPD?   

This is now the 2nd time in my 50 years alive of hearing anything of ASPD?  I was blasted by this clown for nothing but speculation of Drug and Drinking with my lying to previous Drs and this was the reason I was originally misdiagnosed by the VA for PTSD.

He continued to slander me and suggest I was currently using drugs but never once was any discussion or mention that I have gone to my own Pain Management Dr for 10 plus years, never 1 time failing a drug screen urine test or any failed drug screen urine tests at the VA facilities when I was receiving medication prior to my choice to see a PC away from the VA. 

So this decision held up thru my entire appeal process and SOC highlighted on everything this 2nd C&P examiner noted in his 10/min exam without my records of a Drug test which I would have gladly provided right there to shut his mouth and lies/slander of my lifestyle! 

During the 1st SOC, the VA wrote in there verbiage and Conceded the stressors associated with PTSD, as my Ship was active and in a known terrorist activity and Chemical Warfare area during the Gulf War. 

How can the admit I was in and meet the criteria for PTSD but because a C&P examer(Not a formal Diagnosis exam), decide I was ASPD which I claimed as PTSD, still go to a denied claim which for the record, Started in 2011 and finally stopped in 2020? 

[GBArmy]

Triondales Welcome to Hadit. You have a tough road to climb in my opinion. I is extremely unlikely at this point to win without some very good assistance. Start looking for a good lawyer that will take the case. Research here on Hadit and remember you don't have to be located physically for a good result, so don't  think you need a local firm. Search especially for those who handle MH issues like PTSD. Every case is different so keep at it. It is also extremely likely that you are going to need more medical evidence. If you have a continuously developed claim, it may result in a good deal of back pay, which of course is the incentive for the lawyers to take you on. G ALL the medical evidence from your doctor sessions. You need someone with a fresh set of eyes to develop a plan with you. Won't be easy, but we encourage you to work it as you can win.

[pacmanx1]

There are times when veteran have to get lawyers involved in their disability claim and or appeal. 

Hiring a VA-Certified Veterans Disability Lawyer | Nolo

 VA Disability Compensation Lawyer | Woods & Woods Veterans Attorneys (woodslawyers.com)

Veterans (VA) Disability Lawyer Serving Kentucky | CCK Law (cck-law.com)