Vietnam Vet

[Reddit]

I would like to ask a question.

I have a co-worker who was in vietnam, touch the soil, there for 13 months , have proof . Now he has LUPUS, do this disease fall under Nehmer, and if not how does he filed for this.

[jbasser]

Lupus is an Auto Immune disease and it is not on the list of Agento Orange Presumptives.

J

[Pete53]

I know a Marine with 2 tours who has Lupus. Supposed to be rare for a guy to get it. I think that the VA knows about these guys cause a lot of them are treated at VA

[WAC-Vet75]

Lupus is presumptive within one year of discharge. If, you can go through his medical records, and show symptoms dating back (there are a LOT of symptoms as Lupus can affect any organ in the body, to include the skin), he can file for SC.

[Berta]

WAC Vet is correct and gave good advise.

There are different forms of lupus but it can be SCed and this BVA award is an example:

http://www.va.gov/vetapp06/files4/0627635.txt

[john999]

I don't think many know about the "one year after discharge rule" for chronic diseases. This is sort of how I got SC'ed since the army said I was discharged for a PD, but the VA said I had a chronic mental disorder. I bet tens of thousands if not hundrends of thousands of vets are screwed because they don't show symptoms within a year, or don't file within a year. What if the vet shows symptoms within 13 months of discharge? What if the vet does not file for 2 years after discharge? I bet they get screwed if they don't have a history of symptoms in service.

[WAC-Vet75]

I don't think many know about the "one year after discharge rule" for chronic diseases. This is sort of how I got SC'ed since the army said I was discharged for a PD, but the VA said I had a chronic mental disorder. I bet tens of thousands if not hundrends of thousands of vets are screwed because they don't show symptoms within a year, or don't file within a year. What if the vet shows symptoms within 13 months of discharge? What if the vet does not file for 2 years after discharge? I bet they get screwed if they don't have a history of symptoms in service.

This is exactly what I'm in the rating board for. VA dx'd me 1977 with collagen vascular disease (never told me, and if you remember, we were not allowed to see our medical records back then). I was discharged Aug 1976, dx'd Sept 1977, NEVER treated by VA for it. Turns out the "collagen vascular disease" was Lupus. My service records show gastrointestinal (plus was hospitalized in Nov 76 for gastric ulcer, GERD, and my Raynauds was recorded), and respiratory complaints, which have continued throughout the decades. I submitted evidence from the National Institute of Health, Mayo Clinic, etc., tying the conditions to Lupus. Had it not been for a private Physician, I would never have known I had Lupus. It took me many, many years, and a LOT of research to put the Sept 1977 medical dx's (collagen vascular disease, and polyclonal gammopathy) together, showing that I had Lupus then, and that the complaints while in service, were all related.

To this day, the VA has never treated my Lupus, nor even acknowledged their dx's from 1977! Had I not requested all my medical records (when we were finally allowed to see them) in the late 1990's, I still would not have known of the diagnosis'! It will be interesting to see if they hold the "one year" rule to the letter, or if they actually look over the evidence!