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Bone Cancer

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Jbo

Question

I'm 100% disabled for prostate cancer and filing for SMC for stage 4 bone cancer.  I can't find what percentage it would be ratebale for and I have not been scheduled for a C&P exam.  I've submitted all CT scans &  MRI scans with letters from my doctors.

In addition I've also filed for diabetes 2, neuropathy, sleep apnea and tinnitus.  I've had a C&P exam for the diabetes & neuropathy with no decision yet also no C&P scheduled for the bone cancer.

My question..what is the secondary rate for stage 4 bone cancer would it be SMC-S  or somthing else?   Will I receive SMC-K compensation for all the additional issues ? 

thank you for any help

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Yes, this member here is a Vietnam vet-

I mentioned the Thailand BVA decision because this BVA decision came over a decade after hadit member Kurt Priessman got the VA to consider veterans had been exposed to AO in Thailand.

It appeared to me that the RO who had denied the claim I posted, didnt have a clue on the Thailand AO directive. I also believe that since they knew he was a Thailand veteran the RO failed to fully advise him of the evidence he needed.

I bet there still are potential Korean AO vets, a well as Thailand, Blue Water Navy AO vets etc etc  as well as CONUS AO vets , who do not know they might have a valid AO claim.(or their survivors)

I guess my point is maybe this site should be a training site for the ROs.

I just hope the VA doesn't screw up on the new definition of Persian Gulf War veterans as to when and where they servied. I bet many RO people cant even point to Bahrain or Oman on a map of South west Asia.

 

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The legal standard of review is simple. Prostate cancer is rated under DC 7537 followed by rating under a voiding dysfunction six months after chemotherapy is completed (§4.115a). Obviously, Jbo's prostate cancer never resolved. During the intercurrent phase, they rate at 100% for a period of time (usually six months).  If the prostate cancer never resolves or goes into remission, the 100% rating continues permanently.

I had one Vet who eventually died from it (with the bone cancer, too.) He received 100% under DC 7538 until he died. However, more importantly, Jbo must understand that bone cancer is a separate and distinct disability even though it is secondary to the prostate cancer. Thus, it gets a separate 100% rating by operation of law. I filed my Vet for SMC L for A&A under §3.352, SMC L for the loss of use of the lower extremities under §4.71a DC 5012, SMC O for two SMC Ls (one of which was a&a) under §3.350(e)(1)(ii), and R1 (§3.350(h) because the prostate cancer so thoroughly disabled the Vet that he needed a higher level of A&A for it. I also asked for and received an advancement on the docket under §20.900(c) which I urge BJbo to do as well. See attached BVA decision- https://www.va.gov/vetapp18/files9/18139787.txt.  Sadly, he died four months after I won the R1 for him.

I think this decision might be more on point for Jbo and illuminate what he might want to consider filing for to get the most bang for the buck. For the record, any time one of you gets a Stage 4 dx on anything, I strongly suggest you file for SMC L a&a at a bare minimum. If the cancer is secondary to an existing 100% schedular or TDIU under §4.16(a), and causes an additional need for a&a above and beyond the index disability, file for a second a&a or loss of use- whichever is appropriate.

As for filing for all that other small potato stuff like  diabetes 2, neuropathy, sleep apnea and tinnitus, it will not increase the R1. The only way to get to R2 would be to need a higher level of medical in-home treatment such as PT, insertion of catheters or administration of injections. There are other requirements under §3.352(b) but I need not discuss those here.

I'm confused. I don't see what this has to do with an AO claim in Thailand. As a Vietnam Veteran like myself, he is not required to show a medical nexus for his prostate cancer- or the bone cancer for that matter. It's presumptive. Period. Just my two cents.

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 I cant believe how knowledgeable people are on this site, a true blessing for those of us who know nothing about how to go about doing this.  Thank you for your help and information with my issues.  

Is this forum aloud to recomend an accredited legal representative if my VA decisions needs to be filed for a higher review. I read very good reviews for CCK   
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Of the thousands of bone cancer claims at the BVA ,I posted here the first award I found.

because it contained the actual evidence any veteran needs , if they have been exposed to AO, whether in Conus, Thailand, Fort Gordon, Okinawa, etc etc etc or conceded by VA as exposed to AO, with service in Vietnam, to include specific Blue Water Navy Veterans.

 

"In this case, the Veteran has a diagnosis of bone cancer since 2012, which has been medically confirmed as the result of his metastatic prostate cancer.  See April 2017 Medical Note from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.  Specifically, two private health care providers have noted that the Veteran’s bone scans, and a bone biopsy, reflect metastasis of his prostate cancer.  There is no competent evidence of record that contradicts this finding.
As such, all materials elements of the claim have been met by preponderance of the evidence.  Secondary service connection for bone cancer is warranted."

Thank you Jbo for your comment -yes there are many knowledgeable people here.I do not think you will have any problems with this claim but I would support the other claims you filed, as well.

I studied Endocrinology to succeed in my AO DMII death claim. It reversed my 1151 DIC to direct SC death and gave me more ancillary benefits. The serious  complications of DMII can be horrendous and deadly. It is presumptive for Vietnam in country veterans, specific Blue Water Navy Veteran s   and service connectable fo any veteran who can prove exposure to AO- anywhere else.

 

Agent Orange has been the most important veteran's issue of my life. My husband and I as his widow were in the AO Settlement Fund decades ago-1992-but it took VA decades to really understand how many presumptives have been caused by AO.Both Secretary McDonough and former Secretary Shulkin felt HBP should be a presumptive. The nexus to AO was " sufficient" per the NAS report and some  veteran have succeded in their claims on that basis.

https://www.nationalacademies.org/ocga/testimony-before-congress/the-national-academies-report-veterans-and-agent-orange-update-11

The actual report is here under a search.

Here  is another BVA AO HBP award , (2020) to add to those I posted in the AO forum:

https://www.va.gov/vetapp20/files10/20068096.txt

In part:

"At the Federal Government’s direction, the Institute of Medicine of the NAS issues a report every two years on the effects of Agent Orange and similar herbicide agents to various diagnoses. On November 15, 2018, the NAS issued “Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 11 (2018),” in which the NAS upgraded hypertension to the “sufficient” category from “limited or suggestive,” indicating that “there is enough epidemiologic evidence to conclude that there is a positive association” between hypertension and herbicide agent exposure based on the current data on hypertension and herbicide agents."

And another 2021 BVA decision ,in part:

"Here, with two negative opinions of little probative weight, one positive opinion of significant probative weight, and the support of the NAS update, the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran’s hypertension is related to his in-service Agent Orange exposure, and the evidence is sufficient to decide the claim. Thus, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, entitlement to service connection for hypertension, secondary to in-service Agent Orange exposure, is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102."

https://www.va.gov/vetapp21/files3/21015204.txt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Berta
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