Tag: service connection

Camp Lejeune Veterans – The VA Grants Presumptive Service Connection for 8 Conditions

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Hundreds of thousands of people were exposed to toxic chemicals in the water at Camp Lejeune from the 1950s to the late 1980s. Two water treatment facilities were polluted by chemicals such as trichloroethylene (TCE), benzene, perchloroethylene (PCE), and vinyl chloride. The VA has been providing health care and reimbursement for medical costs to veterans and their family members stationed at Camp Lejeune with 15 illnesses related to the toxic water exposure, but they had not awarded presumptive status to any condition…. until now.

Presumptive Service Connection for Camp Lejeune Claims

After years of studies and medical research the VA has finally acknowledged that certain medical conditions are linked to service at Camp Lejeune, and will be granting presumptive service connection for those conditions. This is the latest development in a battle for benefits that has lasted decades. Veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 will no longer have to prove that their condition was caused by service if it is 1 of the 8 conditions. To be eligible for presumptive service connection, veterans must have served at Camp Lejeune between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987. Presumptive service connection will also extend to those who were in the Reserve and National Guard and served at Camp Lejeune during that time period. The presumption of service connection will apply to new and pending claims. Additionally, veterans who have had their claims denied previously should take the necessary steps to have their claim re-evaluated.

The following conditions will be granted presumptive service connection for qualifying Camp Lejeune veterans:

  • Kidney cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
  • Leukemia
  • Multiple myeloma
  • Scleroderma
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • Aplastic anemia (or other myelodysplastic syndromes)

The list of conditions for presumptive service connection at least partially overlaps the list of conditions that are eligible for free health care, but as of right now there is no word on whether all 15 conditions on the VA health care list will be added to the presumptive list. So, just because you don’t have one of the eight conditions that has been granted presumptive service connection doesn’t mean that your condition won’t eventually be added to the list. Just like the Agent Orange presumptive list, conditions will likely be added over the years as more medical research comes to light.

What Does It All Mean?

Once the VA issues a final regulation, the eight conditions will officially receive presumptive service connection. This means that it will become much easier for Camp Lejeune veterans that have one (or more) of the eight conditions to get the disability benefits they deserve. In order to establish successful claims, Camp Lejeune veterans have had to show evidence of a current diagnosis, evidence of an in-service accident or event, and evidence that the current diagnosis was caused by the in-service event. In other words, Camp Lejeune veterans have had to prove direct service connection. With the new presumptive list, Camp Lejeune veterans will no longer have to prove that their condition (if it is one of the above eight conditions) was caused or aggravated by their military service. Instead, Camp Lejeune veterans will only need to prove that they have a current diagnosis and that the served at Camp Lejeune during the specified time period.

Until the VA issues a final regulation, disability claims for the above conditions will continue to be decided according to the current laws. So, if a claim for service connection for one of the eight conditions would be denied under the current regulations, it will still be denied until the proposed regulation becomes official. Does that mean you should wait until the regulation is final to file a claim if you have not already done so? NO. It is best to file your claim now in order to establish your effective date.

Although presumptive service connection will lighten the amount of evidence needed to establish a successful claim, there are still errors the VA can (and likely will) make. Getting service connection is the first battle, and an important one at that. However the fight might not be over. Be sure to check the rating percentage assigned to your condition along with the effective date assigned. The VA frequently gets the rating and effective date wrong, and this can have a potentially huge impact on the amount of benefits you receive.

Just like with effective dates and rating percentages, the VA makes mistakes when it comes to secondary conditions and evaluating the symptoms of a condition. Don’t forget to consider that you may have, or develop, conditions secondary to one of the conditions on the presumptive list. For example, if you suffer from depression because of your service connected condition, the depression is automatically service connected (you would not have to prove the depression was caused by military service). Also, be sure to pay attention to the symptoms of your service-connected condition. Sometimes symptoms can receive a separate rating. For example, a veteran with scleroderma may suffer from Raynaud’s syndrome. Raynaud’s syndrome has its own rating criteria and should be rating separately from the scleroderma. By paying attention to things like secondary conditions and symptoms that can receive their own rating you can ensure that you receive all of the benefits you are entitled to.

Author Anne Thorn, Hill & Ponton, P.A. Attorney

5 Ways to get Service Connected for VA Benefits

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There are five ways to establish service connection for a disability:

  • Direct service connection
  • Secondary service connection
  • Service connection by aggravation
  • Presumptive service connection
  • Service connection for injuries caused by VA health care

Direct service connection is the most common way to acquire benefits for a disability. It is when the disability can be linked to service through a medical nexus. You need evidence of 3 things: 1) a disability 2) an incident in service, such as a disease, injury, or event and 3) a nexus linking the two.  The nexus is usually going to be a medical statement concluding that it is at least 50% likely that the current disability is related to the incident in service. This is the direct way to establish service connection.

Secondary service connection is when a disability is caused by or aggravated by an already service connected condition. The burden of proof remains that it is as likely as not that the second disability was caused or aggravated by the first. An example of this would be if the veteran has a service connected ankle injury that causes the veteran to develop a limp, which then causes back problems for the veteran. If there is medical evidence that the back problem is as likely as not caused by the limp and ankle injury, the veteran can be compensated for the back problems through secondary service connection.

Service connection by aggravation is when a veteran has a preexisting condition that is aggravated during service. If a pre-existing condition worsens during service, it is presumed that it was aggravated by service, and therefore service connected. The preexisting condition has to have been noted in the military entrance examination. The VA may try to show that the condition was aggravated due to the natural progression of the disease, and if they succeed, the veteran will not be entitled to service connection. The veteran also has to be able to prove that the aggravation of the condition is not a temporary increase in the severity of the condition. A medical opinion stating that the aggravation of the condition was caused by service is the best evidence to prove the condition was not worsened from the natural progression of the disease. This then establishes service connection by aggravation.

Presumptive service connection is when the veteran’s disability did not start in service, but is presumed to be connected to service because of a VA regulation. The veteran does not have to prove a connection between the condition and service, it is already presumed. There are however, certain requirements to qualify under these presumptions, such as the disability appearing within a certain period of time, or the veteran having served for a specific amount of time, during a specific time period, or at a specific location. The veteran will need to show either that the disability was diagnosed during the specific period required, or that the symptoms of the disability manifested during that time. There are conditions presumed connected to service based on VA laws. For example, there are certain diseases presumed to be service connected for veterans exposed to Agent Orange, such as diabetes mellitus type 2, Hodgkin’s disease, Ischemic heart disease, coronary artery disease, and Parkinson’s disease. There are also chronic conditions that are granted service connection if they arose within an applicable time limit after service, usually one year following service with a few exceptions. Some examples of these chronic conditions are arthritis, diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia, lupus, and multiple sclerosis. Then there are conditions that are presumptively service connected for service in the Persian Gulf, known as Gulf War Syndrome. The veteran must have served in Southwest Asia from August 1990 through the present, in operations such as Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn.  The conditions are either undiagnosed illnesses (cannot be diagnosed by a physician), or medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses (the illness is diagnosed but the cause is unknown). A few examples of these are fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and functional gastrointestinal disorders.  The full list of diseases and conditions can be found here.

The last way to establish service connection comes from injuries caused by VA medical care. When there is an injury or aggravation of a previous injury that was caused by VA hospitalization, VA medical surgery or treatment, a VA exam, or vocational rehabilitation, it will be presumed that the injury is service connected. The veteran can seek compensation through service connection, or file a completely separate claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act or under 38 USC § 1151, similar to a medical malpractice claim against the VA.

Each of these ways of establishing service connection presents its challenges but arrive at the ultimate goal of establishing service connection to be compensated for your injury or disability.

Author Melanie Franco, Hill & Ponton, P.A. Attorney