Blog: News & Insights

An  issue I commonly encounter is a veteran who has filed a claim for heart disease that is secondary to their service-connected Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or a spouse of a veteran attempting to get Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) because stress from PTSD contributed to or lent aid to a heart condition that caused the veteran’s death.  Establishing service...

A few months ago, I blogged about the use of a “request for reconsideration” before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office/Agency of Original Jurisdiction.  Based upon my review of a recent VA Claim file it is worth repeating again . . .  the notion of reconsideration at the Regional Office level simply does not exist in statute or regulation. A “request for...

On April 29, 2013, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued an opinion in Trafter v. Shinseki regarding the standard for standard for triggering the duty to assist in a claim under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 (VA Medical Malpractice/ Negligence).  The opinion can be accessed at Trafter v. Shinseki and we have include a short overview of medical malpractice claims in Department of Veterans...

News has broken that Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, is suing her agent and others for wrongfully transferring Lee’s rights to himself in order to secure himself “irrevocable” interest in the income derived from her book and to avoid paying legal obligations he owed to his father-in-law’s company for royalties that he allegedly misappropriated, the...

In New York, where Medicaid managed long-term care has been implemented for a while now, they are beginning to see two distinct trends: that the HMO’s are looking to enroll healthier elders in Medicaid, and that these same HMOs were “dumping” sicker, more medically frail Medicaid recipients from their plans, or refusing to assess them.  New Jersey’s Comprehensive Waiver...

It’s all too common for elders and their family members to work with caregivers who are not employed through caregiver agencies who are their fiscal intermediaries.  There may be an arrangement to pay by the day or the hour in cash or check.  The caregiver may have to go home for a while and finds another person to “fill in”.  Then that person leaves and someone else is the...

On, Tuesday, May 7, 2013, the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation and the Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center (NJVVMF) will be holding its annual NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Remembrance Day Ceremony.  The location of the ceremony is 1 Memorial Lane, Holmdel, NJ07733, and the NJVVMF can be contacted at (732) 335-0033. The NJVVMF website is incredibly informative and...

On May 3, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Fed. Cir.) issued an opinion in Parks v. Shinseki and affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Veteran Court).  The opinion can be accessed at Parks v. Shinseki. The underlying nature of the claim involves Mr. Parks’ diagnosis of diabetes type II, heart condition, and peripheral neuropathy and whether...

The Veterans Law Review recently published an article on the origins of the modern veterans benefits system, now codified in Title 38.  It is an informative article for those with a vested interest in understanding how a claim before the Department of Veteran Affairs is adjudicated, the often-cited “backlog”, or anyone dealing with statutory/regulatory interpretation. The article,...

As the following Washington Post Article documents, Alan Wood, the WWII veteran who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima, passed away at the age of 90 years old.  The photo, which became the subject of the Iwo Jima Memorial in the Arlington National Cemetery, captured a moment of pain and triumph for a generation of veterans.  Mr. Wood poignantly recalled the events leading up to the raising of...