MEB FOR LEFT KNEE

jeremy489

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
Hello everyone, I am new to this entire MEB thing but basically I got referred by my PCM for "Chronic left knee pain" when in all reality I had surgery this February for a patellar realignment due to recurrent dislocation of my patella, the dislocation has slowed down but is still there. my question is what should I be looking for in the NARSUM and will the DOD only rate me on that one condition? even though I'm diagnosed with PTSD from a Naval psychiatrist? if so what should I be expecting to receive for a rating for my left knee?
 
Hello everyone, I am new to this entire MEB thing but basically I got referred by my PCM for "Chronic left knee pain" when in all reality I had surgery this February for a patellar realignment due to recurrent dislocation of my patella, the dislocation has slowed down but is still there. my question is what should I be looking for in the NARSUM and will the DOD only rate me on that one condition? even though I'm diagnosed with PTSD from a Naval psychiatrist? if so what should I be expecting to receive for a rating for my left knee?

Let's peel the onion back a little bit.

You had surgery this past Feb. Its only June. Unless the surgery was botched, or you were on a duty limiting profile for a long time before hand, or that "still there" is going to be chronic, you haven't even been given time to recover from the surgery, so it seems like someone is pushing very hard to MEB you.

Now, as far as the PTSD,


4.129 Mental disorders due to traumatic stress.

When a mental disorder that develops in service as a result of a highly stressful event is severe enough to bring about the veteran’s release from active military service, the rating agency shall assign an evaluation of not less than 50 percent and schedule an examination within the six month period following the veteran’s discharge to determine whether a change in evaluation is warranted. (Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155)

[53 FR 23, Jan. 4, 1988, as amended at 61 FR 52700, Oct. 8, 1996]

With that said, the key part of that is "severe enough to bring about the veteran's release." If your PTSD is being controlled and managed and you aren't in the pipeline to get MEB'd for that, then they'll look at it, and you'll get it rated, but the rating might not be more than 10%


§4.130 Schedule of ratings—mental disorders.

Occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational asks only during periods of significant stress, or; symptoms controlled by continuous medication - 10%

The DoD will consider all your conditions, but they accept the ratings of the VA.
 
Thanks, so yeah the issue is i was on limmited duty for 2 years prior to my surgery and the naval clinic took forever to give me my surgery which in turn was botched, the reason is asked about the ptsd is my peblo mentioned the dod only views what you where put on the meb for and in my case Is my knee.
 
Thanks, so yeah the issue is i was on limmited duty for 2 years prior to my surgery and the naval clinic took forever to give me my surgery which in turn was botched, the reason is asked about the ptsd is my peblo mentioned the dod only views what you where put on the meb for and in my case Is my knee.

This is an untrue statement. The DoD will only compensate you for your Category I conditions; however, they will review all of your conditions and if they feel that any of your Category II or III conditions would make you ineligible for service, they will compensate you for those as well.
 
CATEGORY I - UNFITTING CONDITIONS:

CATEGORY II - CONDITIONS THAT CAN BE UNFITTING BUT ARE NOT CURRENTLY UNFITTING:

CATEGORY III - CONDITIONS THAT ARE NOT UNFITTING AND NOT COMPENSABLE OR RATABLE:


So for me, at the present time I'm rated by the VA

Mental Health: 50%
Shoulder: 20%
Tinnitus: 10%

Obviously the mental health condition is Category I (I cannot continue to serve with my mental health condition).

The other two are Category II, my shoulder could be unfitting in the future, but its not unfitting now. The ringing in my ears may lead to an inability to do my job, but right now I can do my job.

So the DOD is only going to give me 50% of my pay.

While the VA is going to rate me 60%
 
Jahlon I really appreciate you clearing this up with me as I was getting a bit worried I wasn't going to hit my 30% benchmark for retirement now I feel a little more confident
 
If I was you, I would make sure to engage with your Mental Health provider and ensure they are in the process.

The mental health scale is 0/10/30/50/70/100 so 30% is a pretty low threshold.
 
Jahlon is correct, the PEB must consider all conditions, not just the referred condition. I recommend you become familiar with your service's guidance on retention. While it is the duty of the PEB to consider all conditions, that does not always happen. An informed member can hold their feet to the fire.
 
well that's the problem I guess I was told wrong by my PEBLO because she said the DOD only rates you for the condition you are being referred to the MEB for, which was my left knee... however im trying to get with my mental health provider to see if he can write an addendum or a narsum for my PTSD so they look at both
 
Ok you have a few times to make sure things get done right

1) When you meet with your VA MSC make sure that you indicate you have PTSD. When you go for your C&P exam you will have a separate appointment for mental health. If you don't have this done it will just delay the process.

2) Prior to your package going to the IPEB you can ask for an IMR (Impartial Medical Review). You can specifically state if a condition isn't considered.
 
Hello everyone, I am new to this entire MEB thing but basically I got referred by my PCM for "Chronic left knee pain" when in all reality I had surgery this February for a patellar realignment due to recurrent dislocation of my patella, the dislocation has slowed down but is still there. my question is what should I be looking for in the NARSUM and will the DOD only rate me on that one condition? even though I'm diagnosed with PTSD from a Naval psychiatrist? if so what should I be expecting to receive for a rating for my left knee?

I just received an unfit decision for my right knee from my FPEB. Unfortunately, your knee will get you 10% and if you're lucky you may be able to get 20%. It is all about range of motion which makes it extremely difficult to get higher than 10%. You will have a chance before the FPEB to add a condition that may be duty limiting to increase your chances of hitting the 30% needed to retire. The VA may rate you on multiple items but the service is only concerned about the one that caused you to reach the MEB process. You will not be allowed to add anything until your FPEB hearing. I am at almost 19 years and have a bum knee that netted me 10%/70% VA and they're trying to give me severance. I'm working on getting my paperwork ready for my second appeal. Hopefully you'll make out better than I have so far but don't stop fighting it.
 
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