DaughterofVet

ATTN: Lawyer4Vet, anyone who can answer any of these questions My dad is a Viet Nam veteran from '66 & '67 and he developed squamous cell tonsillar carcinoma thirteen years ago. He has entered claims to have his compensation reviewed to include the disease as a service-related injury. I read your post. In his most recent denial letter, dated September 15, 2009, the VA explains that the particular disease is not included in the applicable laws and despite the evidence provided by my dad (which includes letters from 2 VA doctors stating their belief that the cancer is service-related), the "Court" has already held that "to allow the opinions of individual doctors to trump the collective view of experts on the issue of whether a statistical association with herbicide exposure exists with respect to a particlular disease would be an impermissible expansion of the available remedies beyond those explicitly provided by Congress." However, I don't know which "Court" that is - is it the Supreme Court? And what case is that? How can I find that case? Also, if the VA is relying on that court decision, it seems there is no way for my dad to ever provide enough "evidence" to persuade the VA to grant his claim. Furthermore, if the only way for the VA to add to the list provided in the Agent Orange Act and in s.1116 is through "experts" finding statistical association, how can I contact those experts? Also, are they considering the fact that it is common for people to have had their tonsils removed, so the disease is probably less common for that reason alone? s.1116©(1)( states that "If the Secretary determines that a presumption of service connection is not warranted, the Secretary, not later than 60 days after making the determination, shall publish in the Federal Register a notice of that determination. The notice shall include an explanation of the scientific basis for that determination." How can we find the reports/explanations of these experts/the Secretary to see why and how they decide which diseases are included and why they omitted tonsil in the definition of respiratory diseases? I just don't know where to begin to help my dad out. Lawyer4Vet seems to have been through nearly the exact same situation. Should I tell my dad to get a doctor to opine that his was a lymphoma not caused by Hodgkin's disease? I appreciate any insight. Thank you. And thank you to all the veterans who have served us.