DMII

[john999]

I asked for an increase for my DMII and was denied because the doctor did not specify that I needed to limit activities.  The thing is I was awarded for severe to moderate neuropathy in both hands and feet. I am already limited in activities due to the PN.  Do you think I have a shot at an appeal when I make that argument?  I can't even walk around in the grocery store due to pain in my feet and I drop things all the time due to nerve damage in my hands and arms. The neuropathy is by far the worse disability I have and it is a result of DMII. I want them to reconsider their logic.  I know that is asking a lot from these guys at VA central.

[Berta]

I agree with Buck-

John , when Dr, bash did 2 IMOs for me ,for a service connected death award ( I already had DIC under 1151 death) he found my husband had PAD as well as PN,and found that it wasdue to the AO Diabetes Mellitus.

I never claimed the PN or PAD, and the VA never even gave me a DMII rating-because

the DMII was never diagnosed or treated by the VA.You can only file one 1151 claim on a wrongful death. I filed instead for direct SC death.

My daughter ,while still in service,kept telling me to re open my claim and go through the stack of med recs carefully seeking anything symptomatic of DMII. I did not want to deal with VA anymore.

But finally I did go through the med recs...and proved to myself he did have DMII, and then I prepared a cover letter to Dr. Bash on my findings and referred to tabbed med recs inthe stack.

In less than a week he prepared an excellent IMO and then he even prepared another one at some point.

Also he contacted a doctor who gave me a freebee email IMO I got ( just 2-3 sentences, from a former VA doctor( Neuro) who treated Rod while he was hospitalized with a stroke.

He had an entry for work up for DMII that had been crossed out by one of the the VA  doctors as they already knew VA had malpracticed on my husband and had tried to cover it up.

The entry had been crossed out but I managed to decipher it, and , my long point is- I had focused on these same records for my FTCA/ 1151 awards.But in a far different way......

The crossed out entry and blood work indicators, etc etc etc all revealed a veteran with full blown DMII-undiagnosed and untreated.

My point is that it is amazing to me what medical records can reveal-but I had to learn a lot of medical acronyms and studied Cardio/neuro/ endocrinology stuff, to make sure the claim I had filed for DMII was as perfect as it could be and that the evidence was overwhelming.

My award from BVA stated:

"FINDINGS OF FACT

1.  At the time of his death on October [redacted], 1994, the Veteran 
was service connected for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. 

2.  The Veteran died in October 1994; the immediate cause of 
death was myocardial arrhythmia, due to or as a consequence 
of myocardial ischemia, due to or as a consequence of 
coronary artery atherosclerosis.

3.  The weight of the competent evidence is at least in 
relative equipoise on the questions of whether the Veteran 
had diabetes during his lifetime that was caused by Agent 
Orange exposure during his Vietnam service, and whether that 
diabetes caused or contributed substantially or materially in 
causing the Veteran's death.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

Resolving reasonable doubt in the appellant's favor, the 
criteria for service connection for the cause of the 
Veteran's death are met.  38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1310, 5107 (West 
2002); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.312 (2008). "

I wish they had explained more of my evidence in the decision as it could have helped someone else in similar type of claim.

I also was disappointed in this statement:

3.  The weight of the competent evidence is at least in 
relative equipoise on the questions of whether the Veteran 
had diabetes during his lifetime that was caused by Agent 
Orange exposure during his Vietnam service, and whether that 
diabetes caused or contributed substantially or materially in 
causing the Veteran's death.

"at least in Relative Equipoise"-yeah right-  I wished they had said the claimant had provided a

S_ _T load of competent evidence. HA Ha (it was A   LOT of work)

I received no rating and no DMII retro -but the ancillary  benefits were worth far more then probably any retro DMII they could have awarded.

Nothing is Impossible.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Berta
weather problems with PC

[john999]

Buck.....I do have "S".  I had TDIU and then got another 60% for a separate condition.  I have had "S" for years.  Bronco helped me get it via Bradley V Peak decision.  I have been TDIU P&T for 20 years.  I was not really shooting for 100% when I claimed an increase for my DMII, but I got the big increases for the PN.  No more money for me, so it is a fluke that I finally got to 100% when I did not need it.

[Buck52]

25 minutes ago, john999 said:

Buck.....I do have "S".  I had TDIU and then got another 60% for a separate condition.  I have had "S" for years.  Bronco helped me get it via Bradley V Peak decision.  I have been TDIU P&T for 20 years.  I was not really shooting for 100% when I claimed an increase for my DMII, but I got the big increases for the PN.  No more money for me, so it is a fluke that I finally got to 100% when I did not need it.

Oh Ok,  Roger That....gotcha

 

[Marine Corp 69/70]

John999 you can get smc L for loss of your feet do to foot drop check out smc L to see if you qualify under it, it’s a high level then smc K for loss of use 

[pwrslm]

My PCP sent me to physical therapy for a Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE). They yanked and pulled and stretched me out in every conceivable way to figure out if I was capable of working. If you can get one of these that shows the effects of DMII on your upper/lower extremities, which restrict your ability to function, it may go a long way in persuading a Dr. to give you a positive report for the claim.
 

If the rating official did not have an answer because the C&P examiner omitted that, the FCE would document the omission.