A question was posed a last week regarding how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would rate Female Sexual Arousal Disorder (FSAD). While the condition is usually rated by analogy, I was able to recall that the VA had proposed a new diagnostic code for FSAD to Title 38’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities early this year. While I don’t believe this particular proposed change will effect the veterans’ rating, the veteran was now aware how the VA is likely to consider certain gynecologic conditions in the future. This information was publically available in the Federal Register . . . and this is how I know that VHA will not consider a miniature horse as a service animal in the future.
Whenever the Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking to change a particular regulatory provision within Title 38, the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), requires that the proposed change be published in the Federal Register. In most cases, the APA requires that a federal agency (to include the VA) publish notice and provide a sixty-day window for public comment before adopting the rule. Proposed changes to Title 38 can be located online at the following link: https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/veterans-affairs-department