In 2009 an Army veteran came to our office seeking assistance for an increase rating in his lumbar spine condition. He served in Thailand with an Engineer Battalion building the Bangkok Bypass during the Vietnam War. He fell from a crane and fractured vertebrae in his low back and spent several weeks in a hospital in Thailand. He returned to his unit, completed his duty to the United States Army and was released with an honorable discharge.
After service he filed an application for service connection in 1980, he was awarded an evaluation of 10%. Over the next few years the condition continued to deteriorate, the veteran began to experience radicular symptoms to include pain and numbness in both of his lower extremities. He was granted an increase rating in 1987 to 20%. He continued to request an increase in his rating and in 2003 the veteran was granted a rating of 40% effective to 2001. He continued to appeal this decision to the Board of Veterans Appeals. The Board issued a remand, returned the claim back to the Regional Office for further development, in 2007 and again in 2008. The veteran continued to file appeal after appeal and finally his claim was submitted to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in 2009.
The veteran then turned to Marcia Moellring for assistance. The claims were successfully remanded to the Regional Office for further development. Our office continued to pursue these benefits on behalf of the veteran and submitted additional argument at the Regional Office. In early 2013 the Regional Office granted the veteran’s claims for an increase rating to include service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy and individual unemployability. The veteran was granted an evaluation of 100% with an effective date of 2003, the last date he was employed.
This is a huge win for the veteran who was eligible for these benefits long before the VA was willing or able to grant them.
The severity of his condition, the residuals of the fracture in his lumbar spine, resulted in his inability to maintain substantial gainful employment, leading to a grant of individual unemployability. If you or someone you know has been locked in a battle with the VA for benefits that were earned and are not being paid, it is in your best interest to get an accredited attorney to assist you with your claims as soon as possible.
