Tuesday my husband's PEBLO called and told him his appeal to add somethings was denied. We figured that would happen. My husband brought home the letter last night that the doctor wrote denying it. Well, I noticed in the letter he said my husband has no neuroforminal narrowing in his neck according to the MRI report. That is not true. We have have a report saying he does. I know they only went off the MRI report requested by the Doctor who did his C&P exam. My husband's PA(just ETS'd) requested another report 2 days later after the first report was done and it says he has it. The reports were also done by the same person! It's like I can't believe these people would lie, but then again I am not shocked. Wish I could give all of them a piece of my mind. End of rant.
NARSUM appeal failure
- Thread starter BigNes
- Start date
Make sure and appeal at the PEB level
He had already done the IPR/IMR and that didn't help. So then my husband was told all he could do is officially appeal the NARSUM and nothing was changed. His PEBLO had him check the box that he didn't agree with the denial of the appeal and sign it. It was sent up to Ft. Lewis today.
If your PEBLO has tried to send to Ft Lewis today...that was a mistake! Any case being sent to the PEB will not go through right now, they are having major issues with their system.
I completely know how you feel. I requested something to be added at the MEB level and it was denied. Then told my PEBLO that I wanted to attend the Formal board. I learned on OCT 1 that I won my appeal without having to attend the FPEB. As long as you have updated/new information you will have a very chance of winning at the FPEB Level to get it added.
Sascha, my husband said his peblo did mention the system was messed up so it may not be sent until next week. Kb0ykg, how did have it added without going to the formal? And was it done after your ratings came back? Also, do you mean just keep going to the doctor's and everything and get records to keep things updated?
The MEB only listed one condition as unfitting (Right Shoulder @ 20%), they also listed my back(Lumbar strain @10%) as fitting. So I requested that the local MEB add the back condition as unfitting but was denied. So when I got to review my first DA 199 (US ARMY) with my ratings, I went to the PEB Lawyer here on Base (Fort Bragg) with all my stuff(MRI Results, Medical Records, etc.) They wrote up the appeal form for me and I also wrote a sworn statement regarding my condition. I then submitted it back to my PEBLO which then sent it up to the PEB. Upon review all the information I submitted regarding my appeal to get my Back listed as unfitting they corrected the Lumbar strain to show DDD with disk protusion and listed it as unfitting. I went from getting just a severence pay to being medically retired PDRL @ 30%. I would continue to see the DR if he has medical issue. If for some reason they don't agree with his appeal and require him to attend the FPEB, he can bring all the new/updated information with him to the Formal board to help his case.
He is continuing going to the doctor. He has DDD with osyeophytes(bone spurs) and disc bulge in his lumbar but that's all the MRI report said. I don't trust the MRI reports from the base hospital though after they lied on one. The first report didn't list the DDD. It was listed on the report his PA requested. So both reports wete totally different. As it stands now, his right shoulder is all that is consideted to mot meet standards. He'll only get 10% for that though because they said his ROM is pretty much normal(not true). Hoping to have his neck and back added. Not sure if the back will be a possibility but we will see. Trying to get a second MRI done somewhere else where they are not biased and won't lie.
I had a similar issue and went to the FPEB as long as you have the evidence they should send the case back to the MTF to have the condition added.
I don't know what it is with Fort Lewis; but they evidently don't read the soldier's enitre medical record. In my case even the Dr. from the independant review said my conditions should be added and wrote a memo that I submitted.
Does he have pain or numbness in his fingers? Has he had a cervical MRI? I origonally thought my shoulder was messed up and it turned out to be pressure on the nerve root from a ruptured disk. I've had to pay out of pocket for several procedures and it paid off in the end; but MRIs are expensive. Does he have numbness or pain in his legs? If so a Nerve conduction study and EMG could prove the presence of a radiculopathy. If you are successful in having the back added, and he has a radiculopathy, when added it should read something like Lumbar strain with radiculopathy. The radiculopathy should bring at least an additional 10%.
If you decide to use a civilian doctor, near JBLM, I use Dr. Donald Lee. He give a decent cash discount. I've also seen a sevice online called Direct MRI; supposedly they also give a discount. For EMG/NCS I use Dr. Saeed; his cash discount is about 40%.
good advice on this thread. definitely appeal and never give up. there are many steps one can take to appeal prior to the Formal Board. stay active and progressive. i've taken a couple MRI's on the same location with different hospitals and although some of the wording was not the same, most of the concept was. as long as they don't try to down play your condition then one should be ok. one can see if ones back is messed up on film, but the symptoms also have to be there, due to some people not being affected negatively. situations vary.
some steps one can take, have been mentioned on here: second opinons off base docs, independent medical review by an independent doctor, going to legal, statements from co-workers and supervisors, etc. your best advocate is yourself. do your homework, understand the terminology and pay attention to detail.
fight for what you deserve, the difference could be severance versus medical retirement- this option comes with all the entitlements a 20 year retiree would get, you can't beat that. the healthcare coverage alone can't compare to anything else out in the private sector.
some steps one can take, have been mentioned on here: second opinons off base docs, independent medical review by an independent doctor, going to legal, statements from co-workers and supervisors, etc. your best advocate is yourself. do your homework, understand the terminology and pay attention to detail.
fight for what you deserve, the difference could be severance versus medical retirement- this option comes with all the entitlements a 20 year retiree would get, you can't beat that. the healthcare coverage alone can't compare to anything else out in the private sector.
Robert, he does have numbness in his right fingers and tingling in his right arm. I believe you commented on another post of mine about nerve damage. He had an EMG done and the doctor said there was slight nerve damage but not enough to affect his arm function. He has had a cervical MRI. It was done at the same time as the back MRI. He had an EMG done on the nerves on his leg but they said no nerve damage at all. He gets radiating pain in his right leg.
If there is no proven nerve damage in his legs, he should claim sciatica. Did they dothe study on both legs or just one? At Madigan they only did my right leg and said no damage; thats why I went off post and had both legs done.
Does his arm and hand get worse when he wears a helmet or body armor? If so you could argue that point. They should add the radiculopathy to a cervical condition, regardless of whether or not it affects function. That should be good for at least another 10% even though its just loss of sensation. Partial paralysis of the radial nerve, the mild rating, is 20%.
I origonally had a failing cervical condition with loss of sensation in my right hand. It then deteriorated to partial loss of function, in both hands, which is one of the reasons I asked for a VA reconsideration.
Here is an example of what spinal conditions with radiculopathies should look like from my 3947:
Staus post total disk replacement of C5-C6 and C6-C7 with residual left C5-C6 radiculopathy (diagnosed by the VA as Status post total disk replacement of C5-6 and C6-7 with scar residual intervertrbral disk syndrome invoving right ulnar and radial nerves) fails AR 40-501 Ch 3-39e,3-30)
Lumbar spine disk herniation at L4-L5,L5-S1 with intervertebral disk syndrome and Left L5 radiculopathy; fails AR 40-501 Ch 3-30j and 3-39e.
No never damage at all in either leg. I had mentioned mabe it is his sciatica before. How does he go about claiming that?
He can't wear his kevlar or any body armor. He has had that on his profile for 4 months now. He said that before he got the profile that body armor made his arm worse. We are still getting all his records together so we can go through everything.
He can't wear his kevlar or any body armor. He has had that on his profile for 4 months now. He said that before he got the profile that body armor made his arm worse. We are still getting all his records together so we can go through everything.