Should I hire a lawyer for my medical board?

PO2 Katie Benson — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:23:23 -0500

I find myself in the position of facing a medical board can anyone give me any insight or advice? Should I hire a lawyer does anyone has any contacts regarding lawyers that handle this type of thing?
Any input would be respectful he welcomed!

Response by SFC Stephen King made Dec 13 at 2015 5:31 PM

SFC Stephen King — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:31:50 -0500

PO2 Katie Benson I would recommend looking at the standards of military fitness, know your rights and do your pregame. I found a link below.

http://allhands.coastguard.dodlive.mil/2015/01/27/facing-a-medical-board-know-your-rights/

Response by SFC Stephen King made Dec 13 at 2015 5:37 PM

SFC Stephen King — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 17:37:50 -0500

http://www.uscg.mil/psd/de/resources.asp#2

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Dec 13 at 2015 7:10 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 19:10:23 -0500

Take a look at your rating, manning levels, promotion rates, etc. and get an idea if the CG is "fat" or "slim". That will tend to tell you if there is a possible tilt in any direction. Medical boards can be neutral, looking for ways to toss, or looking for ways to retain. More localized bias can come into it too. Unfortunately I've seen more cases of impurity vs. purity in my time. Suggest you hold off on legal until you have something to show them. Your local legal aide is limited as they're oriented to serve the Service, not necessarily the service member. The information already posted will help you sense what way things are going. BTW, it's hard to fight medical diagnosis if it is a disqualifying condition. If it does, see if there's a service connection tie. Then get it documented with a line of duty determination. I won't guess anything here, but also make sure it's "medical" and not "admin by medical proxy" going on. That can be a different can of worms.

Response by MCPO Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 13 at 2015 10:20 PM

MCPO Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 22:20:59 -0500

Katie, the answer will be dependent upon whether you want to stay in or not.

If not, no problem - I would talk with a medical officer from another unit (possibly a TRACEN) to get advice to ensure you get as much as you can for a "parting gift."

If you want to stay, know that the odds are stacked against you. The Board begins with the attitude that they need you gone - and it will be the toughest job interview ever. Consider your TIS/TIG and how close you are to High-Year Tenure. If you made rate fast, bring that up - sell yourself on how damned important you are to the Coast Guard, and what all you can do to take care of whatever medical problem you may presently have.

Have you received awards or accolades since the med condition started? If so, "Hey, look what I can do even though I have XXX!!!"

Talk with your Rating Force Master Chief to find out how YN is looking billet-wise, and if YN2 (or YN1 if you are at/above the cut) is overstrength, it's another problem to be surmounted. If you are under-strength, then that's a BIG feather in your cap to possibly stay in.

Really hit up any YNCM's, HSCM's, and even the crusty, old F&S's for advice.

Good luck to you!!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Dec 13 at 2015 10:40 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 22:40:20 -0500

I was in the Army and agreed my career should be terminated.
1. Doc gave me a permanent profile
2. I was assigned a PEBLO (Physical Evaluation Board Liaison Officer) who was the one belly button. He works with the VA and Army to get you your percentages which you can appeal.
3. The VA gave me the official physical on base.
4. The VA took over after I retired from the Army.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 14 at 2015 11:03 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 11:03:32 -0500

Get all of your medical documents together and start looking through everything for your claims. They will provide a medical laywer if you need to appeal once you get your 199 (Details your unfitting conditions) and NARSUM (Narrative Summary). I would recommend that you tell the VA everything that is going on with you to include the who skeletal system, mental health conditions while aggravate or incurred in the line of duty or service. Don't be afraid to reach out and ask questions, I was perplexed at first and just received a 80% VA and 70% Army disability rating and placed on the temporary Disabled retirement list.

I would also ensure that you reach out to Veteran organizations to include VFW as they can help with claims and give you a good understanding of what the Armed Services will try to weasel ratings down to and will be your advocates.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Dec 14 at 2015 11:12 AM

SSG Warren Swan — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 11:12:35 -0500

Very good advice from those on here, but I'd recommend the first thing you do is get ALL of your medical documentation now! Going through the board, they will "loose: never get, or fail to see something that now you can provide a copy of based off your own records. You apply for them, and I know in my case it took 30 days to get. That wasn't a problem being I knew it was going to be at least six months to complete the board. Next analyze what do you want to do? If you can fight it and stay in make sure that's what you really want to do and take the pride out of it. If your injury would only get worse had you stayed in, I'd recommend you retire and find other ways to make a difference either in the military community or in other ways in government. You can make a difference in any of your choices. And lastly don't hang your head down because of a med board. Nothing bad about it, and should anyone say otherwise, laugh at them and keep it moving. You will find (SOON) the supervets who complain about disabilities and what not, and claim other vets are taking their stuff away form them, or they're too proud to get what they put in on. Don't let them get to you.

Response by Maj Marty Hogan made Dec 15 at 2015 8:31 AM

Maj Marty Hogan — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 08:31:16 -0500

Hard to give advice without more background info. The medical standards and your condition are the issue. Can you serve, are you in a non mobility type position, do they have a facility to treat you when deployed. All comes back to what is wrong. Lawyer will just take your money and he can't supplant the MSD. Hard to determine without knowing the disposition. I am the medical admin officer in the Guard at my base. If you have more concerns you can contact me. Our job is not to kick people out but some conditions can't be treated while deployed.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 4:51 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 16:51:30 -0500

First of all get onboard the site pebforum.com and you will be entitled to a free JAG lawyer although they are not always quality.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 10:38 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 22:38:28 -0500

Katie, you can call me anytime to discuss the process.

Response by Maj Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 17 at 2015 10:57 AM

Maj Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 10:57:35 -0500

I'm a flight doc in the Air Guard and a surgeon in my civilian role. I have written plenty of Narrative Summaries and seen people go through the process. Generally we are advocates of the service member and do what we can to help them out. If the member is not complying administratively then it's up to the member's commander to take control and either get the member in line or process an administrative discharge. The medical side of the equation is totally different and should not be confused between the two.
As mentioned in other posts, the two key factors in the outcome of an MEB is 1) the diagnosis and whether it is medically disqualifying, 2) the member's preference to stay in or not.
A medically disqualifying issue can be waived in certain circumstances but I believe I saw that you mentioned you have cancer. The type of cancer is a big issue. All cancers have to go through the board to see if they can be waived. If it is something that is completely curable or has a very high change of cure like prostate cancer (for men) or skin cancer then you can be placed in an Assignment Limitation Code (Air Force) that makes you non-deployable for the duration of your treatments and for a specified recovery period to make sure there are no relapses. Once that is done you can be returned to full status again.
The second issue I saw was that you have trigeminal neuralgia with constant pain and that you didn't think you could continue your position. If the pain and other symptoms are interfering with your ability to conduct yourself and perform your normal duties in the military then you have to ask yourself if you can be retrained into another position or is this something that will prevent your from any military service. If you can carry out another position then that should be reflected in the Narrative Summary and will be considered during the process. If you can't do anything effectively in the military then you have your answer. Part of being able to stay in is passing the fitness test. You can only be exempted for so long before you are administratively processed out. If you can continue with certain treatments and medications then they should be normally available in most places and not cognitively affect you.
Bottom line is that without having all the full details it's hard to predict how a medical board will behave. Key factors in their decision are the diagnosis, how much support your commander gives you, and how well written (or poorly written) the narrative summary is. In flight medicine, if the flight doc says you're not qualified to stay in then you're gone. On the other hand, I had a case where the State Air Surgeon General (SAS) said no but with my letter, the involvement of a one-star above the SAS, and a personal meeting with members of the Air Consultation Service, the member was returned to full flying duties.

Response by CW4 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 23 at 2015 5:06 PM

CW4 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 17:06:05 -0500

If you are medically disqualified for military service by a Medical Evaluation Board ( MEB ) and you want to stay in the military ask for a ( PEB ) Physical Evaluation Board. The Physical Evaluation Board will look at your medical condition and your MOS. If you are able to perform your military job without any hinderance due to your disqualifying medical condition the PEB may rule in your favor and allow you to remain in the military. You woud be required to submit a packet to the PEB. If you ask for a PEB you should talk to your commander. A letter from your commander stating that your medical condition has in no way hindered your job performance adds validity to your cause. Now, this is how it is done in the Army but I would think that the Navy has a simular process. Hope this helps.

Response by CDR Russell Harris made Feb 23 at 2016 2:49 PM

CDR Russell Harris — Tue, 23 Feb 2016 14:49:02 -0500

Always get a "skilled" Lawyer and pay for the best. This is your life and future compensation you are dealing with here. There are lots of great people who care and appreciate your service who can offer professional referrals, just reach out and connect with local retiree organizations like VFW etc. Good luck.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 2 at 2016 2:09 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Mon, 02 May 2016 02:09:16 -0400

I'd read there are attorneys who do MEB PEB cases though I don't know much aboutthem honest. Look at http://www.vetadvocates.org also called NOVA all experienced vet attys mainly for VA cases my wife and I gathered though you could ask their main office or members if they'd handle something like a MEB PEB case. Also, see if there are any law schools neasr you with vet law clinics those are law students suprvsd by attorney faculty, NOVA attorneys sometimes help with them. Then too I'd quite honestly ask maybe one of the vet groups if they might be able to help you though if you're still on active I honestly don't know their rules about that aspect honest, hope that helps and or gives you some thoughts as to where to start honest if you'd like to chat further pls just say though in all truth thats abt as much as I know for real.

National Organization of Veterans' Advocates (NOVA)

The National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates, Inc. (NOVA) is a not-for-profit educational membership organization incorporated in the District of Columbia

Response by 1LT Kurt Mccarthy made Oct 7 at 2017 2:36 AM

1LT Kurt Mccarthy — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 02:36:33 -0400

I know this is old, but wanted to for future individuals asking this question that I hired my own layer who was a retired Full bird JAG officer. The JAG attorney at Benning, didn't even know what a VASRD code was! Her words were exactly this, “what’s a VASRD code, oh I will have to look that up”! I already was offered 20% at the time for a spinal cord tumor! The outcome of the MEB will have a direct effect on the REST of a Soldier’s life. The investment was worth it for me, I tried to stay in, but 2015-2016. It was impossible with the rampage of separation boards and force cutting that was going on. I even continued to have top block OERs and my last APFT was a 297, but with my disability I had good and bad days. I even made the 03 list and was put out right before pinning. Still grinds my gears to this day! Oh, well what can you do. I realized in the end, that it was the best for my body anyway, also the military doctors really had no idea how to treat my rare disease. Tricare prime was a nightmare for seeing a real specialist!