What They Don't Tell You About VA Disability Claims.
By Douglas I. Friedman of Friedman Law Firm, P.C.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
We have many veterans who come to see us because they don’t understand why the VA won’t pay their compensation claims. They often spread out their paperwork and documents on our conference room table in a very organized display. Then they pull documents out in response to our questions. It’s amazing how well organized some veterans are, especially after years of collecting records to support their claims.
Unfortunately, the VA often does not clearly explain what is needed to prove a VA claim. Instead, they send reams of paperwork to the veteran, and often any explanation of what is needed is lost in the shuffle.
It’s really simple what is needed: 1) a current medical condition, 2) an event or injury in the service, and 3) a medical nexus connecting 1 to 2. But the devil is in the details.
One of things that they don’t tell you is that you just about always have to have a medical diagnosis to meet the requirement of a medical condition. We routinely tell veterans to get a diagnosis first before filing a claim.
Another thing is that the common sense way to prove an event or injury in the service often does not apply. You can get sick years later and still be covered, so some research and legwork may be required.
Finally, your doctor can provide a Disability Benefit Questionnaire to meet the medical nexus requirement -- --; but the DBQ does contain a most important question: Whether the event or injury in the service “is as likely as not” to have caused the current medical condition. This is just a 50-50 proposition. Your doctor does not have to state with any certainty that your current medical condition is caused by an event or injury in the service.
We will discuss other things that they don’t tell you in future posts to this blog. Please call us if you have any questions about how to prove your case. You can reach us at 1-800-728-0434 or at LifeHealth@FriedmanFirmPC.com.
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