Hi Jim,
Great job you are doing. keep it up.
I am awaiting for my appeal to heard, about a C/P knee exam, I have heard there are four separate ratings but cant remember them, now will the rater have enough professional dignity to apply them?
The results were bony joint enlargement, crepitus, effusion, tenderness and guarding of movement. Also right knee clicks and grinding: range of motion was flexion -10 to 95 degrees. extension was limited by -10 degrees, also pain on motion. x-ray results revealed moderate to severe DJD with joint effusion and a nondisplaced degenerative tear also there was tricompartmental arthritis chronic strain of the anterior cruciate ligament
Would you please give me your best guess what the rater would rate this at, if he/she does their job.
Thank you!
Reply:
You nailed the problem when you said, "if he/she does their job."
Unfortunately, most initial claims aren't properly adjudicated and will require an appeal to get it right. We estimate that about 70% of all initial claim decisions will be contain significant errors.
Even without the error-prone development, a claim like yours is hard to rate. The best you can do is to study how the ratings system should work and then keep an eye on the process as you go through it. This prepares you for the somewhat inevitable appeal. You can read more about how the ratings process works here;
http://www.jimstrickland912.com/Ratings.html
About midway down that page, you'll see a link to "The Schedule For Rating Disabilities". If you'll please follow that link, you'll b able to see how your knee injury should be rated. All the various criteria ate there.
You may want to read more about how the C & P exam works by clicking this link;
http://www.jimstrickland912.com/C_and_P_Examinations.html
Good luck with the claim.