diabetes Va To Sc Hbp In

[Berta]

This has been going around for some time now-but with no positive indication it would ever come about-

I am surprised that the Texas Veterans Commission

would have any head's up on this:

"A letter from the Texas Veterans Commission to its county service officers indicates that the claims are expected to be approved. The claims won't be actively "worked" until the VA makes its decision."

Does anyone know any more than this?

If I filed a AO HBP claim it could be awarded in a heart beat.

This would affect thousands of AO vets with HBP or also strokes and heart disease directly due to the HBP-

that are not SCed by the VA unless there are caused by diabetes or another AO disability.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_9207845

[Berta]

more info -the letter was sent by the VA to all Service orgs.

Veterans are apparently being urged to file a claim -even before this becomes a presumptive condition formally -

if they served i Vietnam and have Hypertension.

In June 2007 the IOM did find association of HBP very strong in Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange.

Maybe this is the outcome of that report ? that HBP will go on the presumptive list. ????

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...7072701217.html

While the IOM report did not directly suggestion that heart disease was related to AO- it is highly likely that if a vet gets HBP SCed to HBP and if that goes on the presumptive AO list then- the heart disease could be found as secondary to HBP as well as any CVA or brain trauma due to HBP.

My POAs dont speak to me and wouldnt know what this letter meant anyhow if they got it- have any of you heard of your POA recently getting a VA letter like this regarding AO HBP claims?

[mountain tyme]

Hello Berta...

ruffcreek posted this in a thread on hypertension a little bit ago...

he wrote:

"REPORT: VA NOW ACCEPTING CLAIMS FOR HYPERTENSION

LINKED TO AGENT ORANGE EXPOSURE -- Will determine

service-connected status at a later date, but

claims are expected to be approved.

VA begins taking claims related to Agent Orange exposure

By Chris Roberts

El Paso Times

Veterans Affairs has started taking claims for hypertension related to Agent Orange exposure, but it will determine at a later date whether the claims will be honored as being military "service-related," according to service organizations who received notices from VA.

A letter from the Texas Veterans Commission to its county service officers indicates that the claims are expected to be approved.

The claims won't be actively "worked" until the VA makes its decision.

Requests for comment made to local VA agencies were referred to Washington, D.C.

However, after two days, the public affairs office in Washington, D.C., still had no comment.

If the claims are approved, it could mean as much as $300 a month for Bob Snow, a retired soldier who worked as a forward observer directing artillery fire in the Vietnamese jungles.

Snow - who worked with special forces soldiers and Montagnards, a French name for the indigenous people of Vietnam's central highlands - operated in areas sprayed with Agent Orange, a defoliant that knocked down vegetation used as cover by the enemy.

Snow retired in 1982 and was diagnosed with hypertension by the VA in 1983.

However, the condition was not considered service related and therefore his disability compensation was limited.

If hypertension is connected to Agent Orange claims, it could mean as much as an extra $300 per month for Snow, which he said will relieve some of the pressure of the rising cost of living.

Jeri Elena Mark worked as a radar mechanic for Hawk missile systems at a base in Vietnam where she watched planes drop Agent Orange on vegetation surrounding the camp, which was being shelled.

She had experienced high blood pressure, a symptom of hypertension, during her Army career, usually associated with flashbacks from her Vietnam service.

She retired in 1985, but her exposure is not considered combat-related, so she would get no increase in disability payments.

However, her family would receive benefits after her death if the cause is related to hypertension

copied from www.vawatchdog org 5-9-2008"

ruffcreek

________________________________________________________________________________

_

also...Berta

I had heard that the VA requested a study back in 2006, One of the veterans I am helping is a Vietman Veteran and he filed for hypertension secondary to diabetes, He has a c/p for hypertension schedualed fingers crossed. I found this artical that I thought was interesting...

"In a report labeled “Veterans and Agent Orange” from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), mandated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, there is “limited or suggestive evidence of an association between exposure to Agent Orange and the subsequent development of hypertension.”

Because the findings are “limited” this does not mean claims will be validated.

The report states, “Should the Veterans Administration decide to establish a presumption” on the issue “it may still be another six-12 months after that date before VA can decide [a veteran’s] claim.”

If a Vietnam veteran is already service connected for diabetes and is newly diagnosed with hypertension, the claim should be filed secondary to diabetes."

Since the VA has re-opened the study regarding the link between AO and hypertenion I feel stronly it is only a matter of time that hypertenion will become a persumptive condition of AO "if" the veteran has diabetes. With the VA there is ALWAYS A "IF"...

MT

Edited May 13, 2008 by mountain tyme

[jbasser]

The BVA files are flat loaded to the gills of claims deined for HTN from Viet Nam Vets who did not meet the 1 year presumptive rule.

This will open up a massive claim filing scenario.

The RVN vets deserve this one even if it clogs up the system.

J

[Berta]

I have been trying to get more info from the guy who wrote this story and from Texas Veterans Commission-

I want to see the letter that the VARO has sent out to vet orgs-

asked NVLSP and the Legion too---

J BAsser -you sure are right-

If HBP gets presumtive status- it has to fall under the Nehmer Court Order- meaning in any past decision if HBP was rated as NSC-meaning denied for direct SC-whether the vet asked HBP to be SCed or not-that could potentially be the vets retro date-the one in the older claim.

This will cost VA millions.

I am preparing a claim on this basis as my husband's HBP was althugh his records as "essential"-no know cause- and this would reveal the cause- AO.

Unless they finally award on my IMOs for AO diabetes (another potential cause)

I feel frustrated that there is nothing at the VA web site on this- I have received no media news from VA on it and so far cannot get any confirmation yet-by getting a copy of the letter that VA sent to vets orgs-

they all must have gotten it by now-

[jbasser]

If it adds a presumptive issue, Then as I read the regs, HTN currently must be compensable withint he first post service year to be in the presumptive period.

I am seeing more and more 0 percent ratings for Vets with HTN whose BP is high but not considered compensable. Top lines below 160 and / or bottom line below 100. If this does hit, then the door is wide open for a plethera of other claims to be filed, Including many types of heart disease, Vascular diseases, Ti's, Vision issues.

I agree Berta, It will cost millions and may enact special legislation to pay for it.

J

[Philip Rogers]

I would suggest that anyone w/hypertension, who served in VN, file a claim now. Why wait until the VA approves as a presumptive issue??? jmo

pr