Category: General Medical Conditions

VA Proposing Updates to Rating System for Veteran Respiratory, Hearing, And Mental Conditions

Feb 18, 2022
Veterans Disability Info

Veterans with respiratory conditions, hearing problems, and mental disorders may see some changes to the VA disability rating schedule in the future. On Tuesday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced the proposed changes would allow VA to incorporate the most up-to-date medical knowledge to make “more accurate and consistent decisions.” […]

Veterans Can Now Be Service-Connected for Obesity

Sep 8, 2021
Gideon Miller, ESQ

On August 26, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) delivered a landmark decision – Larson v. McDonough, 10 F.4th 1325 (Fed. Cir. 2021) – determining that obesity can be a service-connected disability if it results in functional impairment of earning capacity. What Happened in Larson v. […]

GAO Report Questions Positive Impact of VA Care on Disabled Veterans’ Health

Feb 6, 2020
Veterans Disability Info

Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Michigan) recently asked the Government Accountability Office (“GAO” – the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress) to investigate whether the health of disabled veterans is improving with VA care. In January 2020, GAO published its findings, stating that “more than half of the veterans receiving disability […]

Massachusetts Legislature Heard Arguments on Expanding Medical Cannabis Access for Veterans as Proposed Federal Bills Stall

Jan 31, 2020
Veterans Disability Info

Last January, the Massachusetts Legislature’s Cannabis Control Commission discussed a bill introduced by Rep. Michael Soter to expand access to medical marijuana for veterans in the Bay state. On a federal level, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Rep. W. Gregory Steube, (R-FL) have introduced two separate bills with similar proposals.  […]

In-Service Sarcoidosis and Service Connection for a Psychiatric Disorder

Feb 6, 2018
Eric Gang, ESQ

I recently developed a new strategy in my never-ending quest to obtain service connection for veterans suffering from severe psychiatric disabilities.  In many cases there’s no evidence of in-service psychiatric problems and the diagnosis of a psychiatric disability occurs many years and sometimes decades after discharge from service.  So how […]

Did My Surgeon Leave Something Inside Me?

Jan 16, 2018
Veterans Disability Info

Can you sue a surgeon for leaving a surgical sponge inside you? The answer is yes, absolutely. Surgeons leaving something behind in a patient is negligent behavior that can cause severe pain and disability, and often requires more surgeries, months of rehabilitation, increased medical expenses and other damages. In severe […]