As promised on Friday, I have linked the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposed amendment to 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 regarding illnesses secondary service-connected to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) at Federal Register – Proposed Change to 38 C.F.R. 3.310. The proposed amendment will now go into a sixty-day public comment period.
Further explanation is provided in the VA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Request for Comments (RIN) at the following link, RIN 290-AN89. The proposed amendment would add a new subsection, 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (d), to the existing regulation. It was based upon a report by the National Academy of Science, Institute of Medicine (IOM), which found sufficient evidence to associate TBI with a number of illnesses based upon the severity of the TBI and the period of time between the injury and the onset of the secondary illness. Based upon the IOM report, the proposed rule would allow presumptive service connection for: (1) parkinsonism following severe or moderate TBI; (2) unprovoked seizures following moderate to severe TBI; (3) dementias (presenile dementia of the Alzheimer type and post-traumatic dementia) if manifest within 15 years following moderate or severe TBI; (4) depression if manifest within three years of moderate/severe TBI, or 12 months following the diagnosis of mild TBI; and (5) diseases of hormone deficiency that result from hypothalamo-pituitary changes if manifest within 12 months of moderate or severe TBI.
If you have questions or concerns about your eligibility for veterans benefits, please do not hesitate to contact me for a free consultation at sdirector@FRE-L.com or (732) 382-6070.