VA Disability Tag

Although we were only involved in the claim for the last year, after multiple now-final denials (dating back to the 1960s) and a request to reopen that has been pending over ten years at various levels of the adjudication process, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) granted service connection for an Army Security Agency (ASA) veteran with a severe lumbar-spine disability that he...

This week, we had the good fortune of discussing ancillary benefits for a Marine Corps veteran who was granted service connection and 100% P&T for disabilities related to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) exposure while stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.  My gratitude to the veteran’s physician for being so accommodating and generous with his time to review an abundance of...

Recently, the VA announced an interim rule (effective August 4, 2014), and proposed final rule, which incorporates the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria into Title 38.  More information about the changes can be found at...

On February 27, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued an opinion in Shephard v. Shinseki regarding a veteran’s entitlement to veteran disability compensation during a period of incarceration.  The CAVC held that, as a matter of law, a veteran subject to a reduction of compensation payments as a result of incarceration is not entitled to recoupment of that...

On February 19, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued an opinion in Bowers v. Shinseki concerning the presumption of service connection for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and whether a period of active duty for training for a National Guard Soldier qualified for this presumption.  In Bowers, the veteran served in the Army National Guard from March 1972...

Mr. Earl Maxfield, Jr., served in the U.S. Merchant Marines in 1944, but has only been considered a “veteran” by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since in November 2012.  This is the predicate for an interesting article by The Day concerning certain World War II merchant mariners who are considered “veterans” under Title 38. A “veteran” under Title 38...

On Monday, February 12, 2013, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has added more than 1,000 new mental health professionals and 200 support staff to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).  This hiring increase is in response to an increase in the number of veterans seeking mental health treatment from the VHA.  Currently, there are more than 1.3 million veterans...

On January 24, 2013, the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) issued a panel opinion in Clennan v. Shinseki, regarding the procedures involved in finding a veteran incompetent to handle the disbursement of benefits and the appoint a fiduciary. This case has a long, and possibly unnecessary, procedural history.  The important takeaway for a veteran, however, is if you receive a...

We recently published a short article on the appellate process for disability compensation claims before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  The article, which can be accessed at http://www.finkrosner.com/articles/va-appeal-process.html, provides a short, concise overview of how a veteran/claimant would appeal an unfavorable VA decision. This provides me with an opportunity to also...

I previously blogging about the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) website for researching prior BVA decisions being active once again.  For review, the BVA search engine was inoperable for a good portion of 2012. On the heels of that good news, I can happily report that the BVA’s website now has a new and improved search engine which permits a veteran to better tailor the search...