Physical Disability Board of Review Update

Jason said:
I suspect that there are several things going awry at the PDBR. However, I have not seen for my own eyes any full results. I have a handful of clients that I am representing at the PDBR but have not received any results as of yet.

Once I have a better fix on what they are doing (or not doing), I foresee filing suit at the US Court of Federal Claims.



I don't think it is as grim as all of that....I think that if they do not grant relief, they have to have a reason that will withstand scrutiny and meets the "arbitrary and capricious" standard. However, I think you are dead on as far as the bad results standing because folks get tired, don't understand their rights, etc. I think there are some relatively simple changes that could be made to fix these issues. However, as you indicated, a lot of folks don't know or don't care. I think that one problem that Congress has is that they don't really know the nitty gritty details of the system and so when they are grilling the military leaders, they don't know the right questions to ask.
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Jason,

Do you work on a pro bono basis? I saw your website, and its a very well constructed site, but right now my finances are really shot to hell, going through a rough transition, foreclosure, severance pay fight, and this crap. I would love for you to represent me as well, your very knowledgeable and I could use a heavy hitter in my corner. I have a full timeline from entry into the military to present day of all that has happened medically with me. Let me know, possibly we can work out a payment agreement.

Jonathan "Big Will" Williams
 
Jwilliams61735 said:
Jason,

Do you work on a pro bono basis?
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Big Will,

Please contact me via e-mail ( [email protected] ) so we can discuss your question. I keep a strict separation between discussing general issues on this site and discussing client matters. As an attorney, it would be inappropriate to discuss individual cases on the forum (and probably a very bad idea even if I had the client's permission, for a number of reasons).

But, I can talk about the "pro bono" question. The quick answer is, "yes." Attorneys have a professional obligation to give back to the community and I do a substantial amount of pro bono work. Sometimes, this is free or reduced rate services. In the future, as my practice grows, I intend on increasing the amount of pro bono work my firm does. There are also a number of cases where attorney's fees are awarded by the courts if you prevail.

The real limiting factor for me at this point is that I have also kept my fees on the far low extreme of most practitioners. The point of that is that while I am making a living, I have to limit the pro bono work to a manageable level in order to stay in business and pay the bills. Complicating things are the time I devote to this site and the amount of time I spend daily talking to people about their cases. None of this is to ask anyone to cry a tear for me, many others have done more and given more. I just have to try to balance things.


I saw your website, and its a very well constructed site, but right now my finances are really shot to hell, going through a rough transition, foreclosure, severance pay fight, and this crap. I would love for you to represent me as well, your very knowledgeable and I could use a heavy hitter in my corner. I have a full timeline from entry into the military to present day of all that has happened medically with me. Let me know, possibly we can work out a payment agreement.
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Thanks for the compliments! Like I said, if you e-mail me, we can discuss further.
 
This is a big problem "I think that one problem that Congress has is that they don't really know the nitty gritty details of the system and so when they are grilling the military leaders, they don't know the right questions to ask" Also they seem to only want to ask questions to the high ranking that also either don't know or don't really care.
 
Jason,

Please don't misunderstand the tone of my posts. I am not grim. JUST REALISTIC. I have dealt with the DOD in one form or another since 1979.

It really pained me to see, near the end of my career, how they treat servicemen who become sick or injured. It really seems they have the mentality that once you are injured and quit being "productive" you are just excess baggage, and heaven forbid you should seek what you are owed or worse yet what you have earned. Then they seem to think you are a leach or a welfare mother.

Your experiences aside, I wholly stand by my assertions that the BCMRs are rubber stamps for the services, when it comes to granting relief for disability retirements. I have spent years researching the boards and can only find a handful of cases where a disability retirement was upgraded. You may have a lot of individual luck with the board, but in totality, 90% of the time (give or take) they rule with the service. That presumption of regularity is a tough standard to overcome. And speaking of BCMR , have you read their decisions in Disability cases? 60% of it is boilerplate! It's almost like they are saying, yea yea, another servicemember arguing VASRD and a VA rating to get a disability retirement, how boring. In my own case they did not even address my specific issues. They just boilerplated a bunch of verbiage about why the VA and DOD can rate using different standards, the presumption of regularity, etc. Not a peep on the issues of DOD not following its own regulations, or the statistical evidence and reams of recent documentation of the services low balling claims to avoid paying disability.

All that being said If my PDBR claim is disapproved, I would love to hire you. (I am not rich but I can pay) Also if mine is approved and I can provide any assitance to you helping the others I would be glad to.

I was enlisted in the US Navy as an E-6 and finished up in the Army National Guard as an O-4. So I have a lot of diverse experience with the services.
 
what kind of leukemia do you have? Getting ready for a MEB/PEBhere. Already have 100% from VA.
 
I was wondering the same thing. I guess no news is good news in this particular instance.

Also I am really wondering if they won't try to upgrade a bunch of people from 10 to 20%, and then go to congress with some BS like "The PDBR was very successful Mr. Chairman, we have upgraded over ____________ (fill in the blank) discharges."

And no one will think to ask what they where upgraded from or to, or even think to ask if this had any impact on retirement pay. :confused:
 
I wait for the mail anxiously everyday. I haven't received anything. My info has been up in D.C. since July. I don't see how they could bump me to 20% from 10% when there is no 20% per the VASRD, it goes 10 to 30. I hope I am right. I'll keep checking the mail.
 
wilsonle61 said:
I was wondering the same thing. I guess no news is good news in this particular instance.

Also I am really wondering if they won't try to upgrade a bunch of people from 10 to 20%, and then go to congress with some BS like "The PDBR was very successful Mr. Chairman, we have upgraded over ____________ (fill in the blank) discharges."

And no one will think to ask what they where upgraded from or to, or even think to ask if this had any impact on retirement pay. :confused:
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Yeah Wilson, I hope they dont pull that crap. But I did contact my Congressman and Senator on this issue, so both of them know. My Senator is Arlen Specter, who is deep in the veteran BS, so that might help. I got a response from him via email today but it looked like a copy paste deal, but he will be looking into it. And my Congressman sent me a letter stating they sent an inquire in and are investigating the claim. So..I got my hand in the cookie jar, just got to keep pressure on them. Sounds to me like they are trying to hold off until the National Defense Budget passes then get to everyone.
 
seminole72 said:
I wait for the mail anxiously everyday. I haven't received anything. My info has been up in D.C. since July. I don't see how they could bump me to 20% from 10% when there is no 20% per the VASRD, it goes 10 to 30. I hope I am right. I'll keep checking the mail.
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Sorry Sem, they did that to me..:confused:
 
Jwilliams61735 said:
Why is everything so deadly silent??
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I don't know why it is so silent? Has anyone heard anything recently?

I had my husband call the PDBR a few weeks ago and was informed that they are waiting on his VA medical file, but the VA is currently using it because he is trying to get P and T on top of his 100%. And it was odd because the same day that he call the PDBR the VA actually called him to let him know that they were still working on his claim and that they were waiting for some information from the social security people. (The VA has never called him out of the blue to let him know that they were still working on crap)

So he is waiting for social security to send crap to the VA so that the VA can finish the claim for Permanent and total, so that the PDBR can have his medical file to rule on that claim.

I can't understand how social security can say he is disabled, and the VA can have him at 100 % disabled and the Army have him at 0%. This whole situation is crazy- and I am so sorry that our government has done this to all of you. It is time for a change!
 
I didn't call them today but I know their computers have been down since the 25th of Aug, so nothings getting done as far as I can tell.
 
I am a positive person but I dont think anyone is going to get the retirement. It just seems like they are going to screw us all all over again. I do not know what I am going to do moving forward if I get denied. It would be devastating to my family. I know by the letter of what they are supposed to do most if not all of us should get approved.
I have just lost the faith though I have seen this movie before we all have.
sorry to be a downer but I do not know what to do if I don't get this. it would honestly ruin my family.
Good luck to all and take care.
John
 
Jwilliams61735 said:
Yeah Wilson, I hope they dont pull that crap. But I did contact my Congressman and Senator on this issue, so both of them know. My Senator is Arlen Specter, who is deep in the veteran BS, so that might help. I got a response from him via email today but it looked like a copy paste deal, but he will be looking into it. And my Congressman sent me a letter stating they sent an inquire in and are investigating the claim. So..I got my hand in the cookie jar, just got to keep pressure on them. Sounds to me like they are trying to hold off until the National Defense Budget passes then get to everyone.
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My senator is Dickless Durbin. and Rolan Burris I have no help there I am going to email my Congressman he has helped me on other stuff.
The VA sent my insurance company a bill for my appt for a service connected condition can they do that?
Good luck and take care.
John
 
My senators are Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss. I sent a message to one of them via email about the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill and i got a canned message back.

My faith is in God that i will get the retirement. Not many people will probably get it, it should definitely be an issue for 2010 when the elections roll around and a class action lawsuit against DOD and the Coast Guard.
 
I called the PDBR today and spoke with Josh. He said the computers are still down (Wednesday 9/2/09) and have been for a week. He thinks they will be back up in a day or two. I asked him if he knew of any cases being approved, and he said he "could not tell me that." I asked him why, and he said it was too soon to be talking statistics. I told him I realized that, I was just curious if he had heard of even a single case being approved. He sounded kind of guarded, like he knew but he was not allowed to answer. In the end he would not tell me. He just did not sound like the same friendly optimistic fellow I have chatted with in the past. (I hope that's not a rat I smell.) I still hold out hope that they will do the right thing. Unfortunately, as LTC Parker noted once, the only time DOD does the right thing is when the media spotlight gets turned on them. Josh also informed me that once your record goes to the adjudication unit in Washington, it gets reviewed by the doctors up there who make recommendations based on your file. Then a full board convenes and votes on it. I asked him about how they factored in your VA rating and his answer was very ambiguous. Working in Texas he might just not know in detail, what happens after the file goes to Washington (hence he may not know how the VA rating factors in the decision). The whole call just left me with an uneasy feeling.
 
My hubby called Randolph AFB yesterday for an update. His case has been "at the board" since Aug 5. Apparently the doc in Wash DC who is reviewing his case doesn't understand enough about his condition to know what to recommend yet. So they called the VA to get some other Condition and Review form so they can have more information for making the decision. I am crossing my fingers that since VA only rated this one condition, and they have been at 30% from the get go that *maybe* this is a good sign that the board is actually going to review all the facts in this case. We called VA to ask about that form, and they said since someone has to fill something or other out, it will be 30-90 days before they can kick it back to DC. So we're back in a holding pattern - but thought you all would like to know that it sounds like we have a case getting some thought before it's adjudicated.
 
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