Effective January 16, 2014, VA has amended 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 to add five illnesses found to secondarily related to traumatic brain injuries. A report by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, entitled “Gulf War and Health, Volume 7: Long-Term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury,” found sufficient evidence to link the moderate to…
As many veterans are aware, there are a special set of regulations that provide for “presumptive service connection” for certain conditions if a veteran was exposed to Agent Orange. This list is important because if a veteran does develop one of the listed condition, even 40 or 50 years after service, and they served on…
In an attempt to combat the backlog, the VA has recently proposed several changes to the claims process. While the VA’s goal is to decrease the amount of time it takes to process a claim, many view the proposed change as potentially harmful to Veterans. Currently, to file a claim the Veteran need only send…
Over the past several years, there has been considerable attention in the media to the past contamination of the water supply at Camp Lejeune. From 1953 to 1987, the water supply was contaminated with TCE, PCE, benzene, vinyl chloride and “other compounds.” For background information on the problem, see https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clwater/Site/background_information.html Based on legislation passed in…
A recent Washington Post article shows signs of progress in VA’s efforts to reduce the more than 800,000 claim backlog. Director Thomas Murphy reports that “the number of pending cases has decreased by 74,000 over the past 45 days.” VA has pledged to complete all cases that have been pending for more than 125 days…
Virtually every veteran claimant has a similar frustration with the slow pace of the VA claims process. The picture is of claims files stacked in the Winston-Salem, NC regional office, so many that the structural integrity of the building is in question, the weight thought to be too much for the floor structure to bear! Winston-Salem has so…
On May 24, 2012, the Senate confirmed two new judges for the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. The Court has three vacancies and the addition of two new judges to fill two of those vacancies will be a welcome development. The two new judges are Margaret Bartley and Coral Wong Pietsch. Judge Bartley was…
VA Form 526 is used to initiate a new claim. Use this form if you wish to file a new claim for disability or pension benefits. VA Form 526b is also used to file claims for increased ratings or to reopen a previously denied claim. Be sure to follow the directions closely. Claims for VA…
Filing a claim for VA benefits can be a daunting task. It often requires the veteran to fill out and submit many forms or documents to the VA. Gathering this information can be very time consuming and in some cases costly. Therefore you want to ensure that the documents you sent are received at the…
Wrestling benefits out of VA is usually a battle of attrition. While a few claims sail efficiently through the system, this is by far the exception. Most claims are a matter of wearing VA down through slow development of the claim and repeated challenge of decisions and correction of errors. The nature of this system…
A question we often hear from our clients regards what happens to a claim that has not yet been decided or is still pending at his or her death. Fortunately, Congress recently changed the rules regarding how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handles such claims. The rules are less clear for claims that are…
Many veterans who served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm are suffering from a range of physical disabilities, chronic ailments, and unexplained illnesses which may be due to an “undiagnosed illness.” Thousands of veterans who served in the Gulf War have come down with a pattern of symptoms that include rashes, joint and muscle…
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