click on picture to magnify

March 31, 1994 submit claims for:

1) Porphyria Cutanea Tarda (PCT), secondary to

a)Hepatitis or

b)Agent orange

2) tinnitus increase to compensable (10%)

_________________________________

November 4, 1994 Receive denials for:

1) residuals of hepatitis (nothing in SMRs)

2) PCT due to AO (Never was in Vietnam)

3) tinnitus (didn’t report for C&P)

___________________________________

December 7th, 1994

File NOD with

1) New and Material Evidence of Hep in service

2) proof of Duty in Vietnam

3) request for new C&P for tinnitus. (Never got notification)

_______________________________________

January 9th, 1995

Receive SOC acknowledging receipt of new and material evidence and promising new decision soon.

________________________________________

February 8th, 1995

Attend new C&P for tinnitus

_________________________________________

Silence for twelve years, fifteen days

__________________________________________

February 23rd, 2007 Refile exact same claim with exact same evidence for

1) residuals of Hepatitis C

2) PCT, secondary to Hepatitis or Agent Orange

3) tinnitus increase to compensable level (10%)

_________________________________________

April  15th, 2007 Attend C&P for tinnitus at QTC

________________________________________

May 10th, 2007  Awarded Tinnitus @ 10% effective March 31,1994.VA acknowledges proof of service in Vietnam but defers PCT.

Get $15 K  back pay for tinnitus

_______________________________________

October 17th, 2007 VA realizes they have dropped claims for PCT and Hepatitis and reinstates them.

__________________________________________

July 1, 2008 Awards HCV @100% and drops PCT claim again.

__________________________________________

October 1st, 2008   VA awards PCT @ 10%

_________________________________________

March 29th, 2010 VA increases PCT to 40% and refuses earlier effective date of March 31, 1994 for HCV/PCT.

________________________________________

April 5th, 2011 BVA  Traveling Board Hearing- Seattle , Wash.

_______________________________________

May 12th, 2012  BVA denial of all claims for earlier effective date and staged ratings from April 1, 1994.

_______________________________________

April 3rd, 2013 Office of General Counsel acquiesces and admits error in 2009 VARO and 2012 BVA decisions prior to oral arguments at CAVC.  Office of General Counsel asks for Joint Motion to Remand for corrections.

______________________________________

June 26th, 2013 BVA receives and dockets case

_____________________________________

November 18th, 2013— BVA announces they have made a decision on claims after nineteen years, two hundred twenty two days following receipt of 1994 claims.

The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2012).

Good thing they weren’t dragging their heels on this one. In one hundred forty three days it will become a twenty year rating protected against reduction. I wonder if they will manage to send it to Seattle by Christmas?

Forty three years, one month and twenty nine days following transfusion

This is why we call it Win Or Die