burn pits

[blahsaysme2u]

first question to mods here and @Tbird: can we add a section for burn pit under the specialized cases? i posted in "gulf war" cuz i didn't know where else to put my question. please move this post/question to the appropriate spot if a desginated "burn pit" cant be created. thanks in advance.

ok so i submitted a claim when i first got out back in 2008...below is the denial from the VA. if i reopen this claim based on the new law, will i be awarded SC back to 2008(along with back pay?)??? i have lots of medical records showing sinus issues to support SC but i don't even think i need that with the presumptive conditions related to burn pits added, right?

https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/burnpits/index.asp

thanks guys and gals!

6. Service connection for allergic rhinitis (claimed as sinuses).
Service connection may be granted for a disability which began in military service or was
caused by some event or experience in service.
Your service treatment records were reviewed and considered with your claim for allergic
rhinitis; however, they failed to show evidence of this conditon. Please note that your
service treatment records appear incomplete. We have requested them from the Records
Management Center, St. Louis; however, they replied negatively. We also requested
them form your last unit of assignment; however, they failed to reply. If you have a copy
of them, please submit them to us and we will reevaluate your claim.
Your VA examination revealed the examiner's diagnosis of allergic rhinitis; however,
there was no evidence found relating this condition to your active military service.
Service connection for allergic rhinitis (claimed as sinuses) is denied since this condition
neither occurred in nor was caused by service.

 

[john999]

What happened to Tom Sawyer.  I liked that guy.  If you some how get your 100%/TDIU you are part of the elect.  There are thousands of vets who suffer in silence living in poverty because of the VA.

[Whodat]

What gets me is the 10 year period. I have done desert shield/storm, oef, oof, burned crap, watched jp8 being poured on road to keep dust down and of course sandstorms. I did not complain or go to sickcall while in. Now 20 years later, I have these problems. Go figure. 

[Berta]

The BVA has been addressing the Burn Pit issue already, in their 2021 GWV decisions-

This regulation does not just involve pits of waste, human or miscellaneous materiale to include even body parts, it also includeds the many oil well fires , that caused an enourmous plume of hazardous smoke.

Also the VA has clearly defined who a Gulf War vet is-and that list is here.

• "Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
• The neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia
• Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.)
• Oman
• The Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Oman
• The waters of the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea
• The airspace above these locations"
• https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/hazardous-materials-exposure/gulf-war-illness-southwest-asia/

I also posted more detailed info here on these locations-with a map here somewhere  and will try to find it.

We all need to know this stuff- I realise that many vet reps and VSOs might be too young to know much about the Persian Gulf War . ..definitely they might know very little about Vietnam for sure-and many probably would not even properly assess  a claim from a vet who served in Oman or the Arabian Sea, etc. , and was exposed to burn pits or other environmental hazards there.

 

 

 

 

I posted one of those decisions here today or a member and here it is ,as well:

"The Veteran maintains that his current CLL is related to his active service. Specifically, the Veteran provides that his CLL is linked to in-service exposure to hazardous chemicals, including smoke from oil field fires in Kuwait. See May 2020 statement, May 2021 Board hearing testimony. For the following reasons, the Board finds that service connection is warranted."
"Accordingly, the Veteran has a current diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, which has been linked by medical evidence to his active service by the May 2021 medical opinion completed by his treating physician. Moreover, the Veteran's claims folder does not contain an adequate medical opinion to the contrary. Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran's CLL is at least as likely as not attributable to his active service. And, under VA law, in such a circumstance, the claimant must prevail. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55 (1990). Therefore, service connection is warranted for chronic lymphocytic leukemia."
This entire decision is here:
https://www.va.gov/vetapp21/Files7/21045508.txt
 

 

 

[blahsaysme2u]

here is my OG thread on this...i commented on another thread how the wording in this bill was changed to remove the EED for denied claims....and they added in the below wording to once again screw vets over:

 

Quote

 

(c) Rule Of Construction.—Nothing in this section shall be construed as—

(1) modifying the obligations of the Department of Veterans Affairs under Federal court decisions or settlements in effect as of the date of the enactment of this Act; or

(2) requiring a retroactively applied effective date of a supplemental claim earlier than the date a presumption of service connection is established or modified.