03 Jan 2023

Breaking Down an Agent Orange Illness Claim

Agent Orange, VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Attorney, VA Disability Claims, Veterans' Appeals
Breaking Down an Agent Orange Illness Claim Does an Agent Orange illness trouble you? Agent Orange may be one of the most well-known herbicides, and not for a good reason. This defoliant was widely used throughout the 1960s, mainly in Vietnam. It contained a contaminant called dioxin, and now both Agent Orange and dioxin are known to be linked with cancer and several other serious illnesses, including diabetes and birth defects. Both Vietnamese and Americans stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War were exposed to Agent Orange and many have developed the illnesses mentioned. Before Agent Orange was studied extensively,…
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27 Dec 2022

VA Disability Benefits for Arthritis in the Hands

VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Claims, VA Disability Compensation, Veterans Disability, Veterans Disability Attorney, Veterans Disability Lawyer
Obtaining VA Disability Benefits for Arthritis in the Hands According to the VA and CDC, arthritis affects one in five Americans and is the nation’s leading cause of disability. Over 100 conditions fall under the umbrella of arthritis, including arthritis in the hands, osteoarthritis, and degenerative joint diseases. The percentage of Americans with arthritis is expected to increase to one in four or around 25% by 2040. Not surprisingly, the prevalence of arthritis is higher among veterans than the general population: one in 3 veterans has arthritis. Military service takes a significant toll on a veteran’s body. Many veterans begin…
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22 Dec 2022

PACT Act Claims

VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Claims, VA Disability Compensation, Veterans Disability, Veterans Disability Attorney, Veterans Disability Lawyer
Officials Say They are Ready for PACT Act Claims A large veterans advocacy organization says the VA will be ready to process PACT Act claims beginning in 2023, and the organization will be ready to help. “In my mind, there's no more important way to do that than to compensate them, compensate veterans for whatever type of suffering they may have endured because of their service,” Amvets National Executive Director Joe Chenelly remarked in a Veterans Day celebration. “A ton of veterans who we knew were qualified for these new benefits and care have been coming to us, and we…
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20 Dec 2022

Lawsuit Alleges Systemic Discrimination at VA

VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Compensation, VA Law, Veterans Disability Attorney, Veterans Disability Lawyer
Lawsuit Alleges Systemic Discrimination at VA A lawsuit filed in November 2022 alleges systemic discrimination at VA. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Conley Monk, Jr., a 74-year-old former Marine. Monk Jr. claims the Veterans Administration systematically discriminated against Black veterans in disability compensation claims. The suit is based partly on a statistical analysis of VA records from 2001 to 2020. A university statistician who performed this analysis concluded that VA notably granted disability compensation to Black veterans at an average rate of 30.3% and White veterans at an average rate of 37.1%. According to the lawsuit, the VA…
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06 Dec 2022

How Does VA Disability Back Pay Work

VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Claims, VA Disability Compensation
How Does VA Disability Back Pay Work? VA disability back pay amounts depend on the effective dates. Which only increases when there is a Veterans Administration disability case backlog. The 2017 VA appeal system reforms have significantly reduced the Veterans Administration disability case backlog. In September 2022, almost 150,000 disability claims were backlogged, meaning they were pending at the VA for more than four months. This includes claims that are awaiting further development. But does not include claims that the VA has decided and the claimant is appealing. As burn pit-related claims spurred by the recently passed PACT Act and…
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18 Oct 2022

VA Changes PACT Act Process

Burn Pits, Presumptive Disease, VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Compensation, VA Law, Veterans Disability, Veterans Disability Attorney, Veterans Disability Lawyer, Veterans' Appeals
VA Changes PACT Act Process Before the VA changed the PACT Act process, the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act required veterans who wanted to file claims for compensation for a presumptive illness to wait a couple of years for the legislation to go into effect. Burn pit and other victims would have to wait up to a year before they applied for benefits. Now, the VA has sped up the law's implementation so veterans may file these claims immediately. As of October 1, post-9/11 veterans have one year to enroll in VA health care if they meet one of…
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16 Aug 2022

A Guide to VA Disability Benefits for Major Depressive Disorder

Apply For TDIU, Individual Unemployability (IU), VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Claims, VA Disability Compensation, Veterans Disability Attorney
A Guide to VA Disability Benefits for Major Depressive Disorder Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD, is the most common mental illness in the United States. It affects over seven million Americans, along with an untold number of friends, family members, and coworkers of these victims. Frequently, MDD co-occurs with other conditions, many of which are physical. Because of their military experiences, veterans suffer from MDD at a disproportionate rate. Symptoms like loss of appetite, fatigue, loss of interest, and hopeless negativism make it almost impossible for veterans to function on a day-to-day basis. If MDD has a direct or indirect…
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09 Aug 2022

Top Seven VA Disability Claims

VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Claims, VA Disability Compensation, Veterans Disability Attorney, Veterans Disability Lawyer, Veterans' Appeals
Top Seven VA Disability Claims Do you have a VA disability claim? The number of claims is on the rise. The sharp increase in deployments post-9/11 has pushed the number of disabled American Veterans to nearly four million. That is almost half of the Veterans who serve their country in any capacity, stateside or overseas. Most of these VA disability claims involve one of the seven conditions listed below. The VA and the Department of Defense are the two largest cabinet departments, and the VA is chronically underfunded. Unfortunately for veterans, as the disability rate has increased, the claims denial…
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05 Jul 2022

Psychedelics Gain Momentum as PTSD Treatments

PTSD, PTSD Disability, VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Compensation, Veterans Disability Attorney
Psychedelics Gain Momentum as PTSD Treatments   It's a new era for PTSD treatments. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first identified in patients who survived concentration camps during World War II. It has also been called “shell-shock” pertaining to service members returning from combat operations. Doctors understand this condition a lot better today than they did 20 years ago. However, regulators have not approved any new PTSD treatment drugs since 1991. To this day only two drugs are registered to treat PTSD. Increasingly, it appears that existing psychedelic drugs may fill in the gap.   In the early 1960s, a…
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07 Jun 2022

Obtaining a Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability

VA appeals Attorney, VA Benefits, VA Disability Claims, VA Disability Compensation, Veterans Disability, Veterans Disability Attorney, Veterans Disability Lawyer
Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability   Let's look at securing a total disability rating from the VA and having it based on Individual Unemployability. There are several ways to be considered 100 percent disabled by VA standards. One way is to obtain a total disability rating based on individual unemployability, or TDIU. What makes TDIU different than a regular 100 percent rating, or combination of ratings, is that it is based on the veteran’s functional employability, and thus focuses on vocation instead of, say, use of a particular body part.   Notably, in this sense, “unemployable” does not mean…
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