If you receive a rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) you do not agree with, you will have a few opportunities to appeal this decision. One such opportunity is requesting a decision review officer hearing, or DRO hearing.
A decision review officer hearing is not a required part of the appeals process and can be skipped altogether. However, one of the benefits to a DRO hearing, as compared to a Board of Veteans Appeals (BVA) hearing, is that the DRO hearing will take less time to arrange. An added benefit of the DRO hearing is that you do not need to wait on the VA to provide a statement of case, but if you do not have the statement of case you still need to have all of your medical evidence prepared to present to the decision review officer.
An added benefit of the DRO hearing is that the review officer cannot reduce any rating that had been previously awarded. The review officer may only look at granting disability claims that were denied. Even if you receive an unfavorable decision from the decision review officer, you are still eligible to appear before the BVA.
If you have received an unfavorable rating for a service connected disability and you would like help presenting the facts to the VA, contact Shook and Stone, where our VA accredited attorneys and responsive staff will help you build the best possible case.
Our firm offers FREE consultations and serves clients throughout Las Vegas and Nevada.
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