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Refused a Med. Board?

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SandyC123

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? SC Branch: Navy TIS: 7 years

My husband was injured early last year during PT. The diagnosis was finally handed down that he has Patella Femoral Syndrome in both knees. It is irreparable and will, as it turns out, put an end to his military career. His orthopedist (military doc) recommended in writing that my husband request a med. board. His PCM procrastinated about getting busy with it for a long time and we were grateful for that as neither of us is looking forward to him getting out. Things started getting really bad for him in the office though as several of his superiors were/are giving him a rough time about not being able to do much PT with his waiver. So he finally began pushing the issue a couple of weeks ago. Since his PCM is just a physicians assistant, he had to get authorization to start the MEB process from a doctor. This doctor (a Captain) said that they had done everything for my husband that they possibly could medically and he refused to grant the MEB for him. He said for my husband to instruct his command to begin the proceedings for an Admin. Discharge. This was just this past Friday. Several people are telling my husband and myself that he has a right to a medical evaluation board. His chief and senior chief say that this is unfair to him but neither has any idea what he should do or what they can do to help him. He's going to legal this afternoon to see what they say. We're just scrambling at this point to try and figure out what we can and should do. This is all so frustrating for us because we have four children and no idea what my husband will do once he is out. We were counting on his being in the Navy for at least another 15 years. His command, as nice as most of them are, has got to be the most unorganized, uninformed group of people I have ever seen. No one seems to be able to help us. To add to the frustrations, he went to see his career counselor to get some kind of an idea about what to do once discharged, and they don't have a "career counselor" right now. What they have right now is a PN1 filling in until they get someone in who is trained for this and he flat out told my husband that he had no idea how to help him. Is there someone out there who can help us to understand what his rights are? Anyone who's been there that can offer advice at all, legal or not? (and I don't mean illegal advice, lol) Anyone looking to hire an unwanted DK2 with two bad knees? :rolleyes:
 


naes

Junior Member
I have done research on the MEB process and can offer some information.

The physician is the one who determines if the medical problem warrants referral to an MEB. If the physican hasn't cooperated, then you may be able to have your husband's commander request a different physician or even possibly refer the issue to the hospital commander.

Here is a web page with good information about the MEB process - http://www.louisvillelaw.com/federal/physical_disability_sep_3.htm

This gives a good overview of the process no matter what branch of service you are in. The other links I have are specifically for the Army, so I won't bother you with them.

Best of luck.
Sean
 

ProudArmyWife26

Junior Member
We were also refused a medboard.. cant even hold weapon up!

My Email Here


My husband was injured in basic. he is stationed in Ft. Stewart, GA but is in Iraq now. he was in the middle of a med board when they stopped it and sent him to iraq. his injuries are as follows.. he has stress fractures in his neck, skull, and back. he has a ruptured disk in his neck and back and his knees have decalcification. and his shoulder blade is slipped. they have x rays proving these facts and we have involved representatives from GA and CA to help us fight this but to no avail. what are his rights to be med boared? cause he can't even hold up his weapon or wear his kevlar vest it pains him so much as well as he has no feeling in his hands, arms and its traveling down his side. please, what do we do to get him med boarded? the ARMY is ignoring all the data and xrays they have prooving this and are now threatening to file meandering against him! help! thanx. :)
 

CeLaw

Junior Member
I don’t find it at all surprising that no one knows what to do… typical of the Navy :confused: . The doctor is the one to initiate the MEB, not he enlisted corpsman. The doctor does this because he believes the member is not likely to return to full duty. The MEB is the local evaluation process. The MEB will then determine the member’s likelihood of returning to full duty. If the MEB determines the member is not likely to return to full duty, then the MEB will refer the case to the PEB (physical evaluation board). This is located in Bethesda Maryland. I have been there for a formal board. All MEB cases in the Navy are referred to the PEB.
The PEB’s job is to determine the member’s degree of disability. This is the percentage given to the member based on the VASRAD codes. This is the VA’s schedule of rating disabilities. The PEB can determine if the member will retire, be medically discharged, or return to duty. Other than the appellate process, this is the end of the line.
It sounds as if you are having difficulty in getting the ball rolling. You may have to take the stand that you don’t want out of the Navy, but you can’t stand to be on light duty forever. My advice would be to request to see the commanding officer of your unit. Explain to him that everyone seems to be unable to help. Explain that your lack of ability to keep up with your fellow shipmates is having a negative impact on your moral. Request that he contact the commanding officer of the local hospital that handles the MEB’s. He should understand that you can’t be on light duty forever. At this point, I would expect that the CO of the hospital will contact your doctor and he will then get the ball rolling. I am amazed at how little the doctors & medical staff know about the MEB/PEB process.
Another idea is to contact the MEB office in the hospital. Often times these offices have counselors there that have seen thousands of cases before yours. They may even know your doctor and may be able to contact him. The difficulty in the beginning stages is to get the doctor to stop putting you on light duty and get the MEB process started.
The key point to all this to give the impression that wish you could stay for 20. It is also important to have a neutral position on about the medical process. Kind of like you don’t like it, but you know it has to be done. It is not at all recommended to be excited and ask “how much will I get?” And the opposite can happen if you fight the medical process. I have seen people that go into this with (and knowingly express) that they want out. They usually do get out, but not in the manner that they want. The whole concept to the process is that a member comes in at 100% and should be compensated for anything less when he leaves. Also, The MEB/PEB folks are fully aware that a member stands to gain financially from this process. Not to play down the negative impact the disease or injury will have on the member after the military.
Get the MEB going & I’ll explain the rest. Good luck, CeLaw

Here are a couple of websites to study:

1. http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1228/MR1228.ch3.pdf

2. http://www.jag.navy.mil/documents/PEB.htm#reference

3. http://www.jag.navy.mil/documents/PEB.htm#reference

4. http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/i133239_111496/i133239p.pdf

5. http://neds.daps.dla.mil/directives/1850_4e.pdf

6. http://www.hq.navy.mil/NCPB/PEB/Physical_evaluation_board.htm

The last one is perhaps the best place to start.
 

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