Presumptive Conditions
A "condition", in the language of the VA, is any disease, illness or injury that occurs during active duty military service.
To be service connected and eligible for a disability compensation rating, the condition must be caused or contributed to by an event that occurred during service.
If the condition existed prior to service, it must be shown to have been aggravated (made worse) by military service.
To achieve a disability compensation rating, the veteran must prove that he or she had appropriate military service, that an event that caused the claimed condition occurred and that a medically diagnosed condition that is disabling exists today.
The regulations that govern presumptive conditions only eliminate the requirement to prove that an event caused the condition. For example, a Vietnam veteran does not have to prove that agent orange caused the diabetes he has today. It is presumed that he was exposed to agent orange and also that agent orange is at the root of the diabetes.
While agent orange and the Vietnam veteran are the best known of all presumptive conditions and ratings, atomic veterans, certain Korean veterans and other veterans may also be eligible for presumptive ratings of certain conditions.
The regulations are complex. Some veterans who have a Vietnam Service Medal aren't eligible for presumptive ratings because they didn't set their boots on the soil of the country of Vietnam.
Many Korean veterans don't realize that they may be eligible for service connections due to exposure to the herbicide agent orange.
If you believe that you may be eligible for any presumptive condition and rating, the best way to find out is to file a VA disability claim. The process of adjudication is the only sure way to know.
Presumptive Veterans Disability Conditions
Presumptive Disability Benefits 38 CFR § 3.309 - Disease subject to presumptive service connection Agent Orange - More diseases covered Vietnam vets w/bladder cancer get presumptive benefit Vietnam-era veterans who served in Guam were exposed to Agent Orange Identifying Conditions in Complex Gulf War Claims
M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section C - Service Connection (SC) for Disabilities Resulting From Exposure to Environmental Hazards or Service in the Republic of Vietnam (RVN) M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 2, Section B - Determining Service Connection (SC) M21-1, Part IV, Subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section I - Developing Claims for Service Connection (SC) Based on Other Exposure Types
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About the Nexus Letter
The professionally written Nexus Letter is often the single most valuable tool we have at our disposal to win claims. If you doubt any of that please go to the Board of Veterans Appeals and use their search to look for cases with Nexus Letters or IMOs. You'll find, "...the Board finds the September 2019 Independent Medical Evaluation Report to be probative even though the Veteran’s service treatment records are silent...". I've referred vets to a small handful of reliable doctors for years. I've received hundreds of positive messages that tell me that the IMO/Nexus Letter works for you as well as it did for me. If you're caught up in an appeal and you aren't sure what else you need or if you want to file a new claim and prevail without a lot of fuss...talk with these doctors and make a plan to win.
Good luck! /s/ Jim
Independent Medical Opinion / Nexus Letter
The Board assigns significant probative weight to the September 2019 independent medical opinion of D.B.M., M.D
finding it is at least as likely as not that the veteran’s present left knee condition is the direct result
of his motor vehicle accident injuries that occurred while on active duty.
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C&P Service Clinician’s Guide
This is your C & P examiners guide.
The language used in this guide is very much in effect at your VA. When you have a nexus letter, it should conform
to the phrases you'll find here. For example, your doctor should write "More likely than not" when talking of service connection.
That phrase wins claims, anything less may not.
See Page 14 Section 1.16 How do I give an opinion for nexus (relationship to a military incident?
VA Online Scheduling (VAOS) lets eligible Veterans request community provider appointments
(This looks simple enough. There are only 4 different links you have to click-through to get to ever more complex instructions.
I'll try to use this today. I have no hopes I'll be able to get any appointments. /s/ Jim)
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Hey Jim: This Court of Appeals decision is a bit of a smack-down for VA’s implementation of the Appeals Management Act. VA will need to relook what they are doing under AMA - although this case only speaks to three specific regulations, a broader relook of their overall implementation of AMA would probably be prudent. /s/ Drew
Decided: July 30, 2021
Congress enacted the AMA in 2017 to reform the exist-ing VA administrative appeals system, which was,
by all accounts, “broken,” marked by lengthy delays, and plagued with a formidable backlog of cases.
More problematic, however, was the “continuous evidence gathering and readjudication
of the same matters”that caused appeals to “churn” in the system.
MILITARY-VETERANS ADVOCACY, Petitioner v. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
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/End/
Title 38 - Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief
Volume: 1
Date: 2019-07-01
Original Date: 2019-07-01
Title: PART 17 - MEDICAL
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VA unemployment benefit would be protected under this plan
A new House proposal would make the Department of Veterans Affairs Individual Unemployability program
permanent even for elderly veterans, following attempts in recent years to pare back the benefit. President Donald
Trump’s administration, which proposed cutting back on the benefit for veterans after they reach retirement age.
I'm in Florida, up in the NE corner near Jacksonville.
Are you close? The coffee is on me.
<jim912@gmail.com>
Independent Medical Opinion / Nexus Letter
In a November 2011 nexus statement, the Veteran's neurologist opined that that the Veteran's progressive supranuclear
palsy is most likely caused by or a result of his exposure to Agent Orange. The neurologist explained that PSP is a
movement disorder very similar to Parkinson's disease. The neurologist further explained that PSP affects the same areas
as Parkinson's disease and is possibly causally related to chemical exposure such as Agent Orange.
The Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise regarding service connection for progressive
supranuclear palsy and will resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
Jim Strickland
jim912@gmail.com
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