http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/ Physical Evaluation Board Forum -Information about the Medical Evaluation Board and Physical Evaluation Board (MEB / PEB). The Physical Evaluation Board is where military disability benefits hearings are held for injured US Servicemembers. Covers MEB and PEB for US Army, Air Force, Navy, US Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Officers of the US Public Health Service. en Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:52:53 GMT vBulletin 20 http://www.pebforum.com/images/pebforums/misc/rss.jpg http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/ http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/parrish/9-parrish-abn-paratrooper-needs-your-help.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:04:52 GMT i have 19 years of service in the hawaii national guard. 10 years was active duty service I served in both operations desert strorm and Iraqi... i have 19 years of service in the hawaii national guard. 10 years was active duty service I served in both operations desert strorm and Iraqi freedom. jan 1993 at womac army med center at frot bragg nc i had a lipoma reomved from the out side of my skull sence than i hade to problums other than my skin turning red. on aug 19 2008 I was activated to suport OIF and was to deploy to Kuwait. my mob station was fort hood tx. on September 30 2008 i had problums and head achs i went to the tmc. they ordered ct scans mri and xray of my head. on oct 10 2008 they dionosed me with condition called dural av fistula. the medical oic at the srp site tried to get me attached to the warrior traistin unit at brook army medical center at ft. Sam huston tx., but they over book for my surgery. the oic said that my condition was pre excisting and i have take my problum up with the va. they relased me from title 10 active duty. when i arrived at my home station i meet with my state surgents office. they told nme that my surgery was aproved by tri care. i aked them will be put orders and be attached to a WTU. they told me no. In other words the the army will pay for my surgery, but they will not help take care of me and my family finchaly during the surgery and recovery process. I'm unable to return to work because of my medical condition. Is my complaint a ligit IG complaint, can i get some leagal advise, and how can go about puting the the paper work fora peb and meb. ]]> parrish http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/parrish/9-parrish-abn-paratrooper-needs-your-help.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/parrish/8-parrish-abn-paratrooper-needs-your-help.html Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:54:28 GMT i have 19 years of service in the hawaii national guard. 10 years was active duty service I served in both operations desert strorm and Iraqi... i have 19 years of service in the hawaii national guard. 10 years was active duty service I served in both operations desert strorm and Iraqi freedom. jan 1993 at womac army med center at frot bragg nc i had a lipoma reomved from the out side of my skull sence than i hade to problums other than my skin turning red. on aug 19 2008 I was activated to suport OIF and was to deploy to Kuwait. my mob station was fort hood tx. on September 30 2008 i had problums and head achs i went to the tmc. they ordered ct scans mri and xray of my head. on oct 10 2008 they dionosed me with condition called dural av fistula. the medical oic at the srp site tried to get me attached to the warrior traistin unit at brook army medical center at ft. Sam huston tx., but they over book for my surgery. the oic said that my condition was pre excisting and i have take my problum up with the va. they relased me from title 10 active duty. when i arrived at my home station i meet with my state surgents office. they told nme that my surgery was aproved by tri care. i aked them will be put orders and be attached to a WTU. they told me no. In other words the the army will pay for my surgery, but they will not help take care of me and my family finchaly during the surgery and recovery process. I'm unable to return to work because of my medical condition. Is my complaint a ligit IG complaint, can i get some leagal advise, and how can go about puting the the paper work fora peb and meb. ]]> parrish http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/parrish/8-parrish-abn-paratrooper-needs-your-help.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/allbee/7-mmrb-ptsd.html Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:38:45 GMT I have been in the military for 17 years and was diagnosed with PTSD after I returned from Iraq in 2004. I have not been deployed since then. I was... I have been in the military for 17 years and was diagnosed with PTSD after I returned from Iraq in 2004. I have not been deployed since then. I was scheduled to deploy again in a couple of weeks and when I went to SRP, the doctor said I was non deployable because of my medication. Now that she said that, that have iniated an MMRB. I was wondering what the steps were for an MMRB. I am worried about how my unit is going to treat me when they find out I will have to stay on Rear D. Any information will be helpful. Thanks ]]> allbee http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/allbee/7-mmrb-ptsd.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/trich123/6-help.html Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:26:11 GMT I am not sure if i am doing his right but I need some advice, I have 18 years in and i am still active duty I have had a med board and then a... I am not sure if i am doing his right but I need some advice, I have 18 years in and i am still active duty I have had a med board and then a rebuttal both said I am fit for full duty. I suffer from severe anxiety and trichotillomania. I pull my hair out, I feel they do not know enough about my condition to understand just how disabling it is to me, Not everyday but most days, its hard to be in social situations and imagine how much anxiety I feel about covering my spots when I try to put my hair up for work and what if my subordinates or coworkers knew. I just feel like giving up since I just dont know what I want. I stand a chance of getting kicked out with severance and losing my retirement when I just want them to understand what a struggle daily life is for me....what do I do? Should I do the Formal board? Just the thought of trying to get all of the stuff together and flying there standing in front of even more people and pouring my heart out to them and telling them my very embarrasing secret is so overwhelming. Why do they not recognize this condition? ]]> trich123 http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/trich123/6-help.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/b8bspanky/5-tdrl-va.html Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:41:53 GMT I was put on TDRL status at the beginning of 2008. I also filed for VA and receive benefits from both. This weekend I received a letter from VA... I was put on TDRL status at the beginning of 2008. I also filed for VA and receive benefits from both. This weekend I received a letter from VA claiming that they were unaware of me receiving TDRL compensation and that everything they had paid me for the last year was an overpayment and they want it all back. Now my VA is being lowered to near nothing as an "offset" from TDRL. Is this correct? I cannot find anything online to suppor this. ]]> b8bspanky http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/b8bspanky/5-tdrl-va.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/jason/4-neccesary-reform.html Sat, 23 Aug 2008 23:36:39 GMT As an advocate for those in the Physical Disability Evaluation System, I have tried to fight two battles: fighting for members going through the PDES... As an advocate for those in the Physical Disability Evaluation System, I have tried to fight two battles: fighting for members going through the PDES and trying to fix the broken parts of the system.

The problem that I have is that there are many individual cases that require assistance to get a fair evaluation. Recently, though, I have been thinking more and more about the problems inherent in the system that make getting a fair evaluation more difficult than it should be. Fixing these problems will make it easier for those going through the process and will make my goal of all members getting the best opportunity for a fair rating easier to reach. After being involved with this work for the past few years, I have gotten some insight into the changes needed to ensure a fair and easier to navigate PDES. Over this past week, I have been giving more and more thought to this part of the problem and have decided to put together a proposal to reform the PDES. The changes will likely require little (if any) Congressional action to accomplish (but may require it to force the Department of Defense to implement). As I envision it, a huge impediment to fair ratings is the procedures used at the PEB and the Approval Authority level do not lend themselves to fast, accurate, and accesible adjudication or appeals nor are they aligned structurally with the processes used by the VA to come to a rating decision (remember, the 2008 NDAA directs the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to implement to “the extent feasible, procedures to eliminate unacceptable discrepancies and improve consistency among disability ratings assigned by the military departments and the Department of Veterans Affairs, particularly in the disability evaluation of recovering service members…”).

I am posting this as a heads up that I will be publishing my ideas in the coming weeks . The purpose in doing this is two-fold. I hope to get some constructive feedback from you, the member going through or having gone through the PDES, and to put this out there for our leaders to see (rest assured, I will also be submitting my proposals to our leaders, both in Congress and in the DoD). But with the power of the internet, you never know what method will catch someone's attention.

Stay tuned for more! ]]> Jason http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/jason/4-neccesary-reform.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/jason/2-devastating-one-two-punch.html Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:56:07 GMT Sec. 1612. MEDICAL EVALUATIONS AND PHYSICAL DISABILITY EVALUATIONS OF RECOVERING SERVICE MEMBERS. (a) Medical Evaluations of Recovering Service... Sec. 1612. MEDICAL EVALUATIONS AND PHYSICAL DISABILITY EVALUATIONS OF RECOVERING SERVICE MEMBERS.

(a) Medical Evaluations of Recovering Service Members.--

(1) In general.-- Not later than July 1, 2008, the Secretary of Defense shall develop a policy on improvements to the processes, procedures, and standards for the conduct by the military departments of medical evaluations of recovering service members.

(2) Elements.-- The policy on improvements to processes, procedures, and standards required under this subsection shall include and address the following:...


(D) Procedures for ensuring that--

(i) upon request of a recovering service member being considered by a medical evaluation board, a physician or other appropriate health care professional who is independent of the medical evaluation board is assigned to the service member; and

(ii) the physician or other health care professional assigned to a recovering service member under clause (i)--

(I) serves as an independent source for review of the findings and recommendations of the medical evaluation board;

(II) provides the service member with advice and counsel regarding the findings and recommendations of the medical evaluation board; and

(III) advises the service member on whether the findings of the medical evaluation board adequately reflect the complete spectrum of injuries and illness of the service member.

110 P.L. 181, 1612

The above passage from the 2008 NDAA presents some powerful possibilities in presenting a case to the Physical Evaluation Board.

The first possibility I see is in using this law to refute the all too common rejection of conditions on the basis of lack of diagnosis or as meeting retention standards. By having an independent physician issue an opinion about the diagnosis or disqualifying nature of a condition, I believe that Medical Evaluation Boards will be forced to include many conditions they previously rejected.

What will act as a "force multiplier" though is the addition of a good advocate to your team. As an attorney, I think it would be especially effective to have an attorney draft questions for your independent physician to answer. By having specific questions answered, the Physical Evaluation Board will be forced to address the points raised. The attorney will be able to more effectively present evidence which in many cases will force the PEB to come to a favorable decision. If they fail to do so, weighing the evidence presented, their decision will be very vulnerable to appeal.

I think that this early use of the resource offered by the 2008 NDAA will only have a positive effect on the outcome of cases. In my view, this has the potential to be a devastating "one-two" punch in the presentation of a case before the PEB. ]]> Jason http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/jason/2-devastating-one-two-punch.html http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/jason/1-happy-blogging.html Sat, 24 May 2008 03:28:47 GMT This is the first blog here...it is about blogging!! I realized that some members might want a place to write (or vent) about their case, their... This is the first blog here...it is about blogging!!

I realized that some members might want a place to write (or vent) about their case, their life, or about anything. So, I added the blogging feature. I hope it is a welcome part of this site and that you enjoy it! ]]> Jason http://www.pebforum.com/blogs/jason/1-happy-blogging.html