timeframe of medical board...help!

M

merganser

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Registered Member
Since February 2009 I have been not fit for duty due to a line of duty injury. My Initial Medical Board was submitted in May 2010 and my Disposition Medical Board was submitted in October 2011. My obligated service ended in May 2012. Since I became injured, I have been working for over two years to be accepted to civilian school in order to have a sustainable & meaningful career, and am scheduled to start in just a few weeks but am now being told by my command that I cannot, since I don't have findings yet (well, actually my command is saying that I can take leave to start school, and then when i run out of leave, I'll have to drop out of school and come back to the CG, which to me does not seem like a realistic option). At this point I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to convince my command to allow me to attend school while awaiting findings, even if i run out of leave. Because of multiple delays by medical and PSC, my entire professional future is being jeopardized by the timeframe of adjudication of the medical board. I feel trapped and punished by the multiple delays that have occurred throughout this whole process. I am being pushed to waive the medical board to be able to attend school, which I do not want to do because my condition requires continued treatment. If anyone has any ideas, I'd really appreciate them!!
 
Man, I'm sure glad that reduced eyesight isn't one of my listed conditions...what font did you use for your post?:D Just kidding. I hate to say it, but the odds of convincing your command to let you go to school while on duty, not on leave and in lieu of reporting to work is zero. During the MEB/PEB process, you are essentially "frozen" until a determination is made. Is your school local and can you go at night? Or, maybe consider taking a few online classes or taking a couple of CLEPS/DANTES for now to stay ahead while you are in the process. It sucks, hopefully everything works out for you soon.
 
Thanks for the reply and sorry for the eye-strain. My school is local but it is full-time, only during the day, and only one start-date per year. I guess the best I can do is hope to receive findings soon/with no further delays...
 
Merganser,
Read Chapter 12.B.11.F of the "Personnel Manual". It talks about leaving the Coast Guard on your regular ETS date and more. If medical thinks that you should be kept in the guard until your evaluation is complete that's on their part. There's a grey area when working arounud your ETS date though.

I am kinda on the same route. My ETS date is in January 2013 and my package was submitted in April 2012.

Also, what is your timeline? When was your information submitted to IPEB in Washington, DC.

Thanks
Dave
 
Thanks for your response, Dave. Here is my timeline:
Since February 2009 I have been not fit for duty due to an injury incurred in the line of duty. My Initial Medical Board was submitted on 7 May 2010 and my Disposition Medical Board was submitted on 3 October 2011 (I had surgery in November 2010 and I guess they wanted to give me time to recover, which is likely why they needed the DMB). My obligated service ended on 23 May 2012. I hope this helps/isn't too discouraging. Thanks for the Personnel Manual reference, I appreciate it.
 
No problem. Different conditions varies on how long your medical board will take. Oh and I also heard that they have a maximum of 6 months after your ETS to give you your findings. So your process should speed up.

Dave
 
Merganser,
There's also a website called ebenefits.va.gov that shows your benefits. It should also show your medical board information if the PEB has submitted it to the VA already.

Dave
 
USCG2006 said:
Merganser,
Read Chapter 12.B.11.F of the "Personnel Manual". It talks about leaving the Coast Guard on your regular ETS date and more. If medical thinks that you should be kept in the guard until your evaluation is complete that's on their part. There's a grey area when working arounud your ETS date though.

I am kinda on the same route. My ETS date is in January 2013 and my package was submitted in April 2012.

Also, what is your timeline? When was your information submitted to IPEB in Washington, DC.

Thanks
Dave
Click to expand...

I'm having a tough time finding this reference since they broke the manual down.
 
Good day coasties,
Here's an update on my medical board status. Received an email today from the IPEB stating that they administratively checked in my package at the Physical Evaluation Branch and it's currently in queue.


Here's a portion of the email I received :-

Good Afternoon,

Your Medical Evaluation Board has been administratively checked in by the Personnel Service Center, Physical Disability Evaluation Branch and is currently in the queue to be reviewed by the IPEB (Informal Physical Evaluation Board) President.

Timeline overview:
PSC-psd-de is currently averaging 12 months to adjudicate medical boards starting from the date of this e-mail. This is just an estimated timeline and there are many variables that can cause a delay in the adjudication of your case. Once the Board adjudicates your case and publishes the findings, I will call you to explain the findings, and discuss what the next steps are including your options for legal counsel.
Click to expand...


Timeline on Medical Board Process....

December 2011 - Started Medical Board Process...
March 2012 - Command endorsement received and signed...
April 2012 - Medical Package Shipped out to IPEB...
August 2012 - Medical Package Administratively Checked in at IPEB...
Now waiting for my medical package to be reviewed and findings to be received....:(


I've heard the term, coasties do it better, well in this case NOT...


Dave..
 
USCG2006 said:
No problem. Different conditions varies on how long your medical board will take. Oh and I also heard that they have a maximum of 6 months after your ETS to give you your findings. So your process should speed up.

Dave
Click to expand...

I was extended more than 12 months due to my med board. I wouldn't hold my breath on it speeding up. One person's MEB at my unit took >24 months. They're short staffed and pretty thorough. In the end, I was okay with my rating (knowing VA would be much higher) so I decided not to appeal. That, and they had worn me down from the wait.

Best of luck on your MEB!
 
Just 2. Sorry the reply took months (I never was notified you'd replied...). In even better news, I got my VA rating (only 17 months after I retired :confused: ).
 
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