Author: seth-old

On December 17, 2015, I blogged about the VA’s intent to propose regulations regarding presumptive conditions for veterans exposed to VOCs at Camp Lejeune.  I noted in a follow-up blog that “news sources quoted VA officials as stating that it may take up to one year for any future proposed regulation to become final.” On December 30, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs amended...

On December 17, 2015, we blogged about the VA’s intent to propose regulations regarding presumptive conditions for veterans exposed to VOCs at Camp Lejeune.  Other news sources quoted VA officials as stating that it may take up to one year for any future proposed regulation to become final.  Frankly, this is likely a realistic timeline given the requirements of the Administrative...

On December 17, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced an intent to propose regulatory changes to Title 38 that would grant presumptive status for certain conditions related to exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) while stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC.  The noted conditions were the following: (1) Kidney Cancer; (2) Liver Cancer; (3) Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; (4) Leukemia; (5)...

Recently, the Department of Veterans Affairs updated the VA Form needed to perfect a Notice of Disagreement, specifically VA Form 21-0958.  I have uploaded a copy at VBA-21-0958-ARE (Notice of Disagreement).  Substantively, the biggest change is a specific block for the veteran/claimant to indicate whether they are requesting review by a decision review officer (DRO) or via traditional...

On the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Twitter feed, they announced that the Newark VBA Regional Office will hold a clinic on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 from 10AM to 2PM at the Newark City Hall.  Link to the twitter feed at Newark (NJ) Regional Office holding Claims Clinic on 10/14 from 10am-2pm at Newark City Hall (Main Rotunda). pic.twitter.com/VYbyHx4PtC — Veterans Benefits...

The Senate’s Committee on Veterans’ Affairs commonly holds hearings on a variety of issues effecting veterans. Most recently, the Committee held a hearing entitled, “Examining the Impact of Exposure to Toxic Chemicals on Veterans and the VA’s Response.” The testimony submitted at the hearing provides a good overview of issues pertaining to Agent Orange...

I normally don’t comment on proposed federal legislation regarding Title 38 (Department of Veterans Affairs) unless I feel reasonably certain that the legislation is likely to be passed in some form.  A recent Military Times article, however, identified two issues that have been ongoing within the Department of Veterans Affairs: (1) Title 38 benefits for veterans exposed to VOCs at Camp...

As documented in our August 4, 2015 post, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is continuing research and consideration of issues related to volatile organic compound (VOC) exposure  at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  The August 4, 2015 VA Press Release is again contained at http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2720. Within the last week, the Agency for Toxic Substance and...

As we had previously blogged, a number of veterans we represent involve the question of whether the veteran had sufficient service at or near Vietnam to qualify for presumption of service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a). In one such claim, located travel orders out of Vietnam provided sufficient information for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to grant service connection for...

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...