Veterans Disability Info Blog

As a veterans disability lawyer I literally talk with hundreds of disabled veterans each year. These veterans call or send me their VA decisions in hopes that I will be able to represent them. Recently, a veteran sent me his Board of Veterans Appeals decision. He wanted our veterans benefits law...

The frustration of disabled veterans suffering from illnesses associated with exposure to toxic chemicals in Iraq reached its zenith in the recent controversy over the government’s failure to timely disclose the nature of the toxic exposure. In May 2015 the NY Times reported on the...

The Journal of the American Medical Association has confirmed that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan War have a significantly higher prevalence of all cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes. The medical community, and perhaps most...

More and more often I see scenarios where a veteran with a service connection for PTSD years later has a heart attack or a stroke. When he tries to get a service connection for the heart attack or stroke, the VA denies his claim. A related situation is where a veteran who is service-connected for...

For non-PTSD psychiatric cases, proving a service connection between metal illness and military service still requires you to establish the occurrence of an in-service event linking the two. Normally, you need to have a service treatment record documenting some psychiatric complaints. At the very...

It was the fall of 1970 and 18-year old Jimmy Mills found himself in Vietnam as a member of the Army’s 173d Airborne Brigade. Mr. Mills hailed from the small rural North Carolina town of Shallotte.
Not surprisingly, Mr. Mills found the combat theatre of Vietnam to be a far cry from...

I have represented veterans from every generation from before WWII all the way to the present generation of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although much has changed in the military and society since WWII, some things remain the same. No matter the era, veterans make the same common...

In mid-May (2015), Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado and Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire along with seven other senators, introduced legislation designed to improve the consistency of the VA appeals process. The proposed legislation is called the Veterans Appeals Assistance and...

It takes hard work and dedication to keep the faith alive–especially during a time when traditional observance of Memorial Day has been diminishing. In fact, sadly, many Americans have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries...the graves of the fallen are...

As a veterans disability attorney I’ve seen the same scenario more times than I can count. A veteran files a claim for PTSD after retiring from a 30-year career with the same company. If he is fortunate enough to obtain service-connection for PTSD, the VA will typically award a rating that...