Legal Question in Veterans Law in Hawaii

To: The LawGuru Team
Re: VA Service-Connected Disability
I'm a Vietnam who was sent back to stateside 8 months early for schizophrenia. I was release from Tripler Army Hospital to enter the civilian transition program. I was then discharged completing my 4 years obligation Oct 1, 1973.. I tried to claim for schizophrenia but was denied. In 1983 when PTSD was the diagnosis for Vietnam vets I reapplied under PTSD and was denied again because it was not service-connected. I continued to see the doctors at VA and was treated for depression. In 2009, I went to an outside doctor and had him review my military records and discovered that I was misdiagnosed. The correct diagnoses was PTSD. I shared this findings with my Kaiser and VA Clinic psychiatrist and they concur. My PTSD claim is now under review. My question is.. what would be the retro date if any, since I was misdiagnose?
Dman

Asked on 10/02/10, 4:10 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Jill Mitchell-Thein Heard & Smith, LLP

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When it comes to mental disorders, it's more about symptoms than diagnosis. In your case, the effective date would probably still be just the date that they received the current claim. But every case is different, and mental disability cases can be especially complex. I find it very interesting that you were diagnosed and treated in service and were still denied if you filed a VA claim at discharge. Did they call it a "personality disorder" to avoid granting service connection? If you do get service connection granted on this claim, you may still want to appeal it for a higher rating and/or for an earlier effective date. An attorney would need to review your file to know what you should be entitled to. Feel free to email me directly if you have any more questions, and good luck.

Jill Mitchell

[email protected]

Answered on 10/07/10, 6:00 pm

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