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VA Disability Claims: 5 Game-Changing Precedential Decisions You Need to Know
Tbird posted a record in VA Claims and Benefits Information,
These decisions have made a big impact on how VA disability claims are handled, giving veterans more chances to get benefits and clearing up important issues.
Service Connection
Frost v. Shulkin (2017)
This case established that for secondary service connection claims, the primary service-connected disability does not need to be service-connected or diagnosed at the time the secondary condition is incurred 1. This allows veterans to potentially receive secondary service connection for conditions that developed before their primary condition was officially service-connected.
Saunders v. Wilkie (2018)
The Federal Circuit ruled that pain alone, without an accompanying diagnosed condition, can constitute a disability for VA compensation purposes if it results in functional impairment 1. This overturned previous precedent that required an underlying pathology for pain to be considered a disability.
Effective Dates
Martinez v. McDonough (2023)
This case dealt with the denial of an earlier effective date for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) 2. It addressed issues around the validity of appeal withdrawals and the consideration of cognitive impairment in such decisions.
Rating Issues
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Tbird, -
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Are all military medical records on file at the VA?
RichardZ posted a topic in How to's on filing a Claim,
I met with a VSO today at my VA Hospital who was very knowledgeable and very helpful. We decided I should submit a few new claims which we did. He told me that he didn't need copies of my military records that showed my sick call notations related to any of the claims. He said that the VA now has entire military medical record on file and would find the record(s) in their own file. It seemed odd to me as my service dates back to 1981 and spans 34 years through my retirement in 2015. It sure seemed to make more sense for me to give him copies of my military medical record pages that document the injuries as I'd already had them with me. He didn't want my copies. Anyone have any information on this. Much thanks in advance.-
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RichardZ, -
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Caluza Triangle defines what is necessary for service connection
Tbird posted a record in VA Claims and Benefits Information,
Caluza Triangle – Caluza vs Brown defined what is necessary for service connection. See COVA– CALUZA V. BROWN–TOTAL RECALL
This has to be MEDICALLY Documented in your records:
Current Diagnosis. (No diagnosis, no Service Connection.)
In-Service Event or Aggravation.
Nexus (link- cause and effect- connection) or Doctor’s Statement close to: “The Veteran’s (current diagnosis) is at least as likely due to x Event in military service”-
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Tbird, -
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Post in ICD Codes and SCT CODES?WHAT THEY MEAN?
Timothy cawthorn posted an answer to a question,
Do the sct codes help or hurt my disability ratingPicked By
yellowrose, -
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Post in Chevron Deference overruled by Supreme Court
broncovet posted a post in a topic,
VA has gotten away with (mis) interpreting their ambigious, , vague regulations, then enforcing them willy nilly never in Veterans favor.
They justify all this to congress by calling themselves a "pro claimant Veteran friendly organization" who grants the benefit of the doubt to Veterans.
This is not true,
Proof:
About 80-90 percent of Veterans are initially denied by VA, pushing us into a massive backlog of appeals, or worse, sending impoverished Veterans "to the homeless streets" because when they cant work, they can not keep their home. I was one of those Veterans who they denied for a bogus reason: "Its been too long since military service". This is bogus because its not one of the criteria for service connection, but simply made up by VA. And, I was a homeless Vet, albeit a short time, mostly due to the kindness of strangers and friends.
Hadit would not be necessary if, indeed, VA gave Veterans the benefit of the doubt, and processed our claims efficiently and paid us promptly. The VA is broken.
A huge percentage (nearly 100 percent) of Veterans who do get 100 percent, do so only after lengthy appeals. I have answered questions for thousands of Veterans, and can only name ONE person who got their benefits correct on the first Regional Office decision. All of the rest of us pretty much had lengthy frustrating appeals, mostly having to appeal multiple multiple times like I did.
I wish I know how VA gets away with lying to congress about how "VA is a claimant friendly system, where the Veteran is given the benefit of the doubt". Then how come so many Veterans are homeless, and how come 22 Veterans take their life each day? Va likes to blame the Veterans, not their system.Picked By
Lemuel, -
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Question
Berta
I might have griped about this one already but maybe not.
Yesterday I re -sorted all of my VAOLA stuff.It got out of order when I had to respond to their last letter.
I had questioned errors in my VARO's award letter of 2010 three times and reflected again on one of their responses.
They had failed to adviose me of the ancillary bgenefits my award generated.
The VA made the extraordinary statement right in the first paragraph- that 1151ers and direct SCers receive the same ancillary benefits regarding their DIC awards.
Of course there was no legal reference for that because it isn't true and the rater made this up.
The letter(had I not known better) was suggesting that even though my direct SC claim subsumed my past Sec 1151 award-
I was not eligible for any additional benefits -as ancillary benefits are quite limited under 1151.
What gets me is that the BVA -in a decision long ago to me- and supplied to VA for my AO claim stated emphatically that my 1151 award did not bring the same ancillary benefits that a direct SC award would.The regs are cited in the decision and
prove tat this rater made up the statement they thought I would accept.
If I had been a widow without a clue (or had a vet rep who didnt know much about DIC )I would have never gotten a single ancillary benefit by relying on this statement.As it was -I bypassed the RO for REPS, DEA retro and some other stuff.And I got these ancillary benefits.Because I knew how to and I had the evidence that warranted them.
My point here is (and I certainly responded to their ridiculous statement)
that we must carefully read this stuff. Even when they responded to my CUE they made stuff up without any legal citation.
What we know is incorrect in any decision, we have to challenge --- because if we don't -we are,in essence, accepting it and agreeing with it.
Since the Nehmer people got extensive training, I wonder how many errors like this they are seeing in past claims.
I have gotten used to using this type of format-
I scan the letter or decision from VA into Openoffice as a new doc and then I go line by line with quotes from the VA stuff
inserting WRONG in large font -after each erroneous statement and then telling them why it is wrong.
Maybe other claimants don't have to do this and they get stuff that is correct.
I haven't had a single correct letter from the VA since 1995.
GRADUATE ! Nov 2nd 2007 American Military University !
When thousands of Americans faced annihilation in the 1800s Chief
Osceola's response to his people, the Seminoles, was
simply "They(the US Army)have guns, but so do we."
Sameo to us -They (VA) have 38 CFR ,38 USC, and M21-1- but so do we.
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