VA Benefits and Brain Injury |
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The Army says it has discovered a simple blood test that can diagnose mild traumatic brain damage or concussion, a hard-to-detect injury that can affect combat troops.
"This is huge," said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff.
Army Col. Dallas Hack, who has oversight of the research, says recent data show the blood test, which looks for unique proteins that spill into the blood stream from damaged brain cells, accurately diagnosing mild traumatic brain injury in 34 patients.
Doctors can miss these injuries because the damage does not show up on imaging scans, and symptoms such as headaches or dizziness
If you have questions about your VA Benefits contact a Michigan Attorney accredited by the VA to assist you in your case at Allan W. Ben P.C. Contact our Michigan VA attorneys today at 1-866-540-0677. |
VA Benefits and Type 2 diabetes |
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Some 270,000 Vietnam veterans — more than one-quarter of the 1 million receiving disability checks — are getting compensation for type 2 diabetes, making it the most frequently compensated disability among the war's veterans. If you are a Veteran and suffer from diabetes contact our office to discuss your potential Veterand Disability case. |
VA Benefits and Gulf War Veterans |
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VA’s Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses Task Force issued its final report, which details how VA will improve medical care and services for Veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. You can read the full release at http://www.va.gov/Final20GWVI_TFReport.pdf. |
VA Disability Benefits: Hearing Loss and Tinnitus |
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Veterans who are returning from the war in Iraq and Afganistan are reporting hearing loss and tinnitus at very high rates. Several soldiers have ringing in their ears from being near bombs going off, gun shots, or riding in tanks.
A damaging noise is one that is 85 decibels (dB) or more. In 2005, the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) released a study that showed that nearly all service members are exposed to acoustic trauma at some point during their military service and that many experience hearing loss and/or tinnitus as a result, often years after service. However, “after the fact, hearing loss or tinnitus incurred as a result of military service cannot be distinguished with certainty from subsequent noise-induced hearing loss…” Given these findings, reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of veterans who suffered acoustic trauma in service.
A claimant seeking VA disability compensation for noise induced hearing loss and/or tinnitus should submit with their claim a detailed lay statement that outlines their noise exposure in service. This letter should identify the sources (i.e., infantry, tank, plane) and duration of exposure as well as what was used for hearing protection (i.e., nothing available, ear plugs, muffs). A claimant should also identify when the symptoms first had its onset and if those symptoms (decreased hearing, ringing in ears) persisted over the years. Also include information identifying potential noise exposure following military service and include what steps were taken to prevent injury. Finally, a medical opinion is needed from an audiologist or ear, nose, and throat surgeon that connects the disability with the exposure in service. VA audiologists infrequently make such linkage opinions. A private medical statement is money well spent to obtain a quality opinion.
Call us today at 1-866-540-0677 to help you file your VA disability case. If you are in Macomb County, Oakland County, Wayne County or anywhere else in Michigan and need help with your VA Disability case, contact our office at
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Veterans Benefits- Disabilities caused by Agent Orange |
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The Agent Orange Act of 1991, which directs VA to establish presumptions of service connection for any disease discussed in the Institute of Medicine’s biennial reports to VA for which the evidence shows a positive association. The institute’s most recent report, issued in July 2009, found sufficient evidence of a positive association between exposure to the Agent Orange herbicide and B-cell leukemia, the most common cancer of white blood cells, as well as Parkinson’s disease and heart disease.
The VA published final rules in August 2010 to add ischemic heart disease, Parkinson’s disease and B-Cell leukemias to the list of ailments presumed to be the result of military service in Vietnam veterans. As a result, beginning as early as Oct. 20, 2010, up to 250,000 Vietnam veterans will become eligible for veterans disability compensation and medical care.
Studies show a significant link between heart disease and the toxic defoliant Agent Orange. Six of nine rigorous studies reviewed by the agency showed strong associations between the herbicide and heart disease. tThe law requires the Veterans Affair agency to grant automatic benefits for diseases that are scientifically associated with Agent Orange.
The full list of presumptive diseases / illnesses associated with Agent Orange includes:
1. B cell leukemias;
2. Parkinson's disease;
3. ischemic heart disease;
4. Acute and Subacute Transient Peripheral Neuropathy;
5. AL Amyloidosis;
6. Chloracne;
7. Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia;
8. Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2);
9. Hodgkin’s Disease;
10. Multiple Myeloma
11. Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
12. Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
13. Prostate Cancer
14. Respiratory Cancers, and
15. Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or Mesothelioma)
The military used Agent Orange to defoliate plants and trees in which Vietnamese insurgents hid during the Vietnam War.
If you are suffering from a disability while in the military and are not receiving VA disability benefits or are not happy with the disability rating the VA has given your injuries, you should contact our office immediately and we will review your case, call 1-866-540-0677.
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Mental Illness is Common Among Soldiers Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan |
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Almost one-third of veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan who received health care at Veteran Affairs facilities between 2001 and 2005 were given a mental health or psycho social diagnosis, according to a report in the March 12, 2007, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Researchers looked at data from 103,788 veterans; about 13 percent of them women, 54 percent under age 30, nearly a third minorities and nearly half veterans of the National Guard or Reserves.
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Michigan VA Claims Attorney – PTSD |
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Once the VA has awarded service connection for PTSD, it will then review the most current clinical evidence of record to determine how the severity of your symptoms impairs your social and industrial (ability to work) capacity. The VA has a schedule of rating disabilities, located in title 38 C.F.R., Part 4. The VA has established “Diagnostic Codes” (DC) for various medical and psychiatric disorders, which include a description of the severity of related symptoms and a corresponding disability percentage (called a “rating” or “evaluation”). Although there are different DCs for covered psychiatric disorders, the VA evaluates the level of disability due to psychiatric disorders under the same criteria, regardless of the actual diagnosis. 38 C.F.R. §4.130, DC 9411, governs PTSD ratings. This regulation provides graduated ratings of 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70% or 100%. A 0% rating is noncompensable, This means that you have service-connected PTSD, however, there is little or no impairment as a result. VA compensation payments begin at 10% and increase at each rating level.
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