Va Secretary Establishes Als As A Presumptive Compensable Illness

[Tbird]

VA Secretary Establishes ALS as a Presumptive Compensable Illness

September 23, 2008

(Printable Version)

Cites Association between Military Service and Later Development of ALS

WASHINGTON – Veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may receive badly-needed support for themselves and their families after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that ALS will become a presumptively compensable illness for all veterans with 90 days or more of continuously active service in the military.

“Veterans are developing ALS in rates higher than the general population, and it was appropriate to take action,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake said.

Secretary Peake based his decision primarily on a November 2006 report by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the association between active-duty service and ALS.

“We are extremely grateful to Secretary Peake, Congressman Henry Brown and Senator Lindsey Graham for standing on the side of veterans with ALS across the country,” said Gary Leo, president and CEO of The ALS Association. “Thanks to their leadership, veterans with ALS will receive the benefits and care they need, when they need them. Thanks to their efforts, no veteran with ALS will ever be left behind.”

The report, titled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Veterans: Review of the Scientific Literature, analyzed numerous previous studies on the issue and concluded that “there is limited and suggestive evidence of an association between military service and later development of ALS.”

“ALS is a disease that progresses rapidly, once it is diagnosed,” the Secretary explained. “There simply isn’t time to develop the evidence needed to support compensation claims before many veterans become seriously ill. My decision will make those claims much easier to process, and for them and their families to receive the compensation they have earned through their service to our nation.”

ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a neuromuscular disease that affects about 20,000 to 30,000 people of all races and ethnicities in the United States, is often relentlessly progressive, and is almost always fatal.

ALS causes degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that leads to muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, and spontaneous muscle activity. Currently, the cause of ALS is unknown, and there is no effective treatment.

The new interim final regulation applies to all applications for benefits received by VA on or after September 23, 2008, or that are pending before VA, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, or the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on that date.

VA will work to identify and contact veterans with ALS, including those whose claims for ALS were previously denied, through direct mailings and other outreach programs.

To view the entire regulation published in the Federal Register today, go to: www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2008-21998_PI.pdf. For more information on VA’s disability compensation program, go to www.va.gov or contact 1-800-827-1000.

[Berta]

I had a call from a friend who works at the local VAMC ,with questions about ALS, so am bumping this topic up and hopefully he will read it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stretch]

This is a clip from YouTube about ALS. It has a lot of information along the way, including that Veterans are more susceptible.

[LarryJ]

I just got an e-mail from a veteran. He has ALS and was seeking a service officer.

He was turned down by the VA.

That is all the information that I have until I get to develope his claim some more and see exactly WHAT was turned down. I think it's his healthcare, something about he is making too much money.

[ZenArcher]

The first thing any veteran with ALS should do is contact their local Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) office. PVA has worked closely with the ALS Association to ensure the veterans with ALS are processed quickly and correctly.

[john999]

The vet with ALS is going to probably need nursing home care. Very important to get his claim accepted and get a 100% rating so if he needs this care he does not have to go on medicade. If he has a spouse the burden of caring for a person as they decend into ALS is tremendous. Some die quickly and some it takes a long time and they need complete help with chores of living. In these cases the spouses always suffer because the ALS person goes through every dime getting treatment and still ends up destitute on medicade.

[Van]

VA Secretary Establishes ALS as a Presumptive Compensable Illness

September 23, 2008

(Printable Version)

Cites Association between Military Service and Later Development of ALS

WASHINGTON – Veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may receive badly-needed support for themselves and their families after the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that ALS will become a presumptively compensable illness for all veterans with 90 days or more of continuously active service in the military.

"Veterans are developing ALS in rates higher than the general population, and it was appropriate to take action," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake said.

Secretary Peake based his decision primarily on a November 2006 report by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the association between active-duty service and ALS.

"We are extremely grateful to Secretary Peake, Congressman Henry Brown and Senator Lindsey Graham for standing on the side of veterans with ALS across the country," said Gary Leo, president and CEO of The ALS Association. "Thanks to their leadership, veterans with ALS will receive the benefits and care they need, when they need them. Thanks to their efforts, no veteran with ALS will ever be left behind."

The report, titled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Veterans: Review of the Scientific Literature, analyzed numerous previous studies on the issue and concluded that "there is limited and suggestive evidence of an association between military service and later development of ALS."

"ALS is a disease that progresses rapidly, once it is diagnosed," the Secretary explained. "There simply isn't time to develop the evidence needed to support compensation claims before many veterans become seriously ill. My decision will make those claims much easier to process, and for them and their families to receive the compensation they have earned through their service to our nation."

ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neuromuscular disease that affects about 20,000 to 30,000 people of all races and ethnicities in the United States, is often relentlessly progressive, and is almost always fatal.

ALS causes degeneration of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that leads to muscle weakness, muscle atrophy, and spontaneous muscle activity. Currently, the cause of ALS is unknown, and there is no effective treatment.

The new interim final regulation applies to all applications for benefits received by VA on or after September 23, 2008, or that are pending before VA, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, or the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on that date.

VA will work to identify and contact veterans with ALS, including those whose claims for ALS were previously denied, through direct mailings and other outreach programs.

To view the entire regulation published in the Federal Register today, go to: www.federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2008-21998_PI.pdf. For more information on VA's disability compensation program, go to www.va.gov or contact 1-800-827-1000.

It's about time. This doesn't go far enough though in my opinion. Parkinsons should be as well. There are over 40,000 cases of this disease and it's associates currently in veterans. I know there are possibly over 20,000 cases that weren't in this tally just from the Guam area. I believe they're all dead by now. They were mostly WWII vets or vets who did service on Guam after the war. There are a number of these cases at the BVA and all were held up for a study that was conducted here in Reno. None were decided for the veteran and the study which was started about 17 years ago isn't complete even to this day.