I had a private message from a member asking about the ins and outs of a Decision Review at the RO level prior to a filing of the Substantive Appeal and moving the claim to the BVA.
My thoughts are not in harmony with others on this subject so I offer some insight. If the Vet has additional evidence to submit that he feels may save the claim, this is a good idea. It can actually be accomplished by asking for reconsideration of the original denial before a Decision Review request is submitted. When you receive your denial, they always offer the Decision review as an option prior to filing the Form 9. This is standard practice. Submission of new evidence before filing the appeal triggers 38 CFR 3.156 (b) and a new review of your recent denial is required by law automatically.
Here is where the dichotomy, or schism occurs in our thinking. A DR will consume a minimum of 12 months of your time and advance your case 0 miles towards Washington, D.C. If you submit no evidence and ask for no hearing before the Decision Review Officer, you will lose and have also lost a year waiting for your turn in the docket line in D.C. That is 3 years right now assuming it rolls downhill properly. VA has nothing but time. You, on the other hand, usually don’t when you are dealing with this disease. The sooner you can get this adjudicated, the happier (and financially better off) you will be. VA is not vindictive. They do not have a grudge or a chip on their shoulder. No, Ladies and Gentlemen Vets, what we have here is apathy and lots of time. In my business building houses, when we called in for trusses, we had to have the house braced, plumbed and lined. If it was Friday afternoon at 4 and we weren’t ready, we stayed until we were. The Truss truck wasn’t going to sit there Monday morning at 0 dark thirty and waitfor us to do it. They’d throw the trusses on the ground and beat feet with an admonition that the second visit was going to be $135.00/hour. VA doesn’t live in that world. They will not hold your hat and coat while you fix it. They’ll “get back to you” when they please in the event of a new submission of evidence. This means more delay before the potential DR.
A decision review is also only valuable as a tool if you have a golden tongue at the hearing you can request. That hearing will also set your eventual appeal back, too. It usually takes a minimum of 6-8 months from your date of request to get one. Then start adding the year or more for the actual review following it.
Use my claim is a yardstick- it was 16 months from filing to reopen to granting of SC. It was 13 more months from filing of NOD with request for a DR to denial and issuance of SOC on the hep. Another 8 months for the PCT DR. They were then both appealed to D. C. That took a year. Then the Travel Board hearing-3 more months (expedited, no less). BVA has had it since April 2011. So you can see how timeless this process is. If I was ordinary Joe Blow Vet without medical issues, I would be awaiting a April 2012 Travel Board Hearing and a 2 year delay for a docket after that.
Sum total? 4 years and 4 months with the DR and still no resolution in spite of advancement on the docket. In retrospect, I would gladly have avoided the one year + detour for the Decision Review. We can’t always get what we want, but we damn sure can learn from our mistakes. VA will not suddenly “see it your way” absent some mighty strong evidence. Keep this in mind when considering the DRO route. It has its uses, but I’ll be damned if I can find them.
Getting back to Joe Blow Vet, we could envision a 16 mo. delay from filing to denial. Assume no new evidence and there’s 7 months to the hearing, and a year for the new review decision denial. 3 years and finally a Form 9 filed. Another year to certification and transfer of records. A Board hearing a year later and there’s 5 years. 2 more for the BVA docket and you’ve invested 7 years with what to show? 2 more for a CAVC appeal?
I think the sooner you get this project in front of a BVA Judge, the better your chances of success. The Regional Office folks have a different mindset on claims. I suspect they have the word “deny” tattooed on the inside of their left upper arm like Hitler’s SS. JOVO
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
The DRO process which I was told was much quicker than taking the claim all the way back through the BVA has really been worthless. I have been waiting for the DRO for five years now to make a decision. I have been lied to on two occations in writting from the VA when requesting an update on my appeal. I have been told that the DRO has your file on his desk and you will be hearing from him in 60 days, so go wait by your P.O Box your statement of the case will be in a manella folder. After waiting for the 60 days to come and go just trying to get an answer to the question of what happened to the decision added another four months. I then received another letter in January telling me your file is on the DRO’s desk and he is working on it you will have your decision within 60-90 days, no later than May. Well, when May came and went I tried contacting IRIS to inquire as to the status of my claim and recieved one of those letter’s that are like a computer print off telling you about the big back log and we’ll get around to yours when your turn comes up. Can’t get a straight answer any where trying to deal with the DRO and of course the Regional office has an unlisted number so you cannnot call down there to ask someone if they could look for you and just give you a straight answer to your questions. Don’t even bother calling the 800 number that is just a waist of time, your pet dog or cat could give you more information than you could get trying to speak with a benefits counsler about the problems your having with your DRO case. I am at a total loss because even with an attorney helping he can’t get any further than you got. There are alot of Vets that deserve their benefits but when they try to request them they find out they are on a long road ahead and it stops at a brick wall.
Ah, Padawan. Tell your attorney to file a Writ asking for action. Tell them of these broken promises and make the VASEC come clean. It costs $50 USD to apply and is the best money I ever spent.
Thank you Asknod, I’ll get hold of my attorney on Monday and see what he has to say about filing a Writ.
Most law dogs consider it Extreme Unction-only to be used like a fire alarm. I’ve done it once to speed things up. I had one gal do so after 20 mos. of no c-file. Her atty. had his hair curling up but it worked. In this day and age, it’s not so extreme as it was when Jean Erspamer did it in 90. Go to the CAVC site and look at recent decisions. Thgere are always about for or five posted every week so it isn’t such an extraordinary occurrence anymore.