Jim,
I am looking for advice on my VA claim. Recently Denied. Here are the basics.
In US Navy 1964-1976. 1 WestPac cruise 1970. Upon discharge, I was to have elective surgery. Pre Op blood work showed elevated Kidney and Liver chemical abnormalities. High CA,
High Uric Acid, High Creatine, High BUN and high HCO3.
All these tests show pre diabetes at least. No test for high A1C done. Medical records show I was supposed to have a Nephrology appointment. No record of the appointment in my medical records. Denied by VA due to No evidence diabetes occurred while in service. I am insulin dependant 4 shots per day, 7 of my toes amputated due to neuropothy, cataracts removed from both eyes, ED, kidney stones that were 100% uric acid stones.
Do I have any chance of winning this case or should I give up?
Reply:
Unfortunately, the tests that you cite don't confirm a pre-diabetic or diabetic condition. That you use terms like "elevated", "abnormalities", and "high" tells me that you may not actually know just what the lab values were or what they mean. All lab tests can be a bit different than the norm but not necessarily pinpoint a problem.
You also don't say that the lab values you cite were off enough to cancel the elective surgery. I don't know what the elective surgery was to be but if you had it done and the doctors weren't concerned about any lab tests, I have to assume that the tests weren't too far off the norm. If you missed a nephrology appointment, any observer would have to ask why?
That those things happened in 1976 or soon after probably aren't relevant if your diabetes wasn't diagnosed then or soon after. If you developed and were diagnosed with diabetes in 1986 or 1996, the condition is clearly not service connected.
Any lab test can report a value that is high or low. VA and most others would call that an acute and transitory or one time event. To prove that your diabetes had its onset in or about 1976 would require a steady record of high blood sugars during that time and forward to present day.
You didn't tell me when your diabetes was first clinically diagnosed and formal treatments were initiated for you. I'd have to hazard a guess and tell you that if the diagnosis was made any time after 1977 or so, your chances of a service connection are slim. Each year that passes after your ETS makes the chance of service connection less and less.
In any case, you may want to consult a veterans law attorney for a professional opinion to discuss an appeal. There may be facts that I don't know of and a review by an attorney wouldn't hurt.
Please read http://www.vawatchdog.org/how-to-hire-a-veterans-law-attorney.html