Va Recognizes Als Link To Military Service

[allan]

VA Recognizes ALS Link to Military Service

Apparently it is now official after only taking two years to decide while families and Veterans suffered and died with no compensations or "service connected" medical care.

I would also point out that the association is not to any one thing but service in the military where concidently OSHA and agencies like that have no authority.

The Veterans' Administration giving the Veteran a second chance to die for his country.

http://www.usmedicine.com/dailyNews.cfm?dailyID=427

Veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may receive needed

support for themselves and their families after the Department of

Veterans Affairs (VA) announced last month that ALS will become a

presumptively compensable illness for all veterans with 90 days or more

of continuously active service in the military. VA based its 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.

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,"

explained VA Secretary Dr. James Peake in a statement. "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. The disease 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.

Best,

Kelley

[Stretch]

This is information about Veterans involvement with ALS. It is YouTube video.