In our example of DMII, not all other conditions can be successfully claimed. This is a common error made by many veterans.Veterans who have a service connected condition like DMII will often begin to try to claim all other conditions as secondary to that DMII.
We receive frequent emails asking if we think that a claim of arthritis, mental conditions like depression, various cancers and so on can be claimed as secondary to the DMII. The answer is always "No". Veterans are allowed to make any claim they believe is appropriate. Our answers are based on whether or not we believe the veteran will be awarded the benefit or if he is wasting his time. Many claims of a secondary condition may be won with an expert Independent Medical Opinion.
Secondary Conditions are disabling injuries, illnesses or diseases that may be caused or aggravated by your existing service connected conditions. Nomenclature is very important when working with VA so it helps for you to understand the language.
The term "condition" is used to describe any physical or mental health problem you may have. A condition is an injury or an illness that occurred during your military service. The condition may be disabling or not. You may have had a condition like a fungal infection that was treated and cleared up with treatment. That isn't disabling but it may be rated as service connected at 0% disabling. Or you may have had a significant injury such as a gunshot wound. Even though it was treated, that wound may have left you with only a
partial use of the affected limb and a big scar. That's a disabling condition and will likely be awarded an appropriate rating for purposes of compensation.
The term "service connected" implies that the illness or injury occurred during your service or if it shows up later in your life, was caused, contributed to or aggravated by your service.The condition doesn't have to be from combat or even while you're performing a military duty. You're military 24 x 7 so anything that happens before you have that DD 214 in hand counts. These conditions can be physical illnesses or mental health problems. Some service connected conditions are pretty easy to understand. If you lose a finger or a toe in an accident or in combat, you'll get a clear cut rating for the loss of the digit. That loss isn't pleasant but it isn't very likely to disrupt your life to any great extent and it won't lead to any other physical problems for you. Then again, you may be diagnosed with an illness or incur an injury that can cause other problems. If you have a service connected condition and that condition leads to other physically or mentally disabling conditions, you may have a reason to file a claim for a secondary condition.
Nexus and IMO Letters
Call before visiting your VA facility
Free Veteran resources through PATRIOTlink
and Coronavirus updates
VA Releases Survivors Quick Start Guide
Reference guide to help during final
arrangements planning
Why Getting a Diagnosis Matters
A diagnosis does so much more than get noted in your medical history. It also can help you apply for programs like Social Security Disability and medical marijuana cards. And maybe even more importantly, it can help you explain yourself to friends, colleagues and family.
The Next, Terrible Phase of This Crisis
After cancellation comes triage
Owe VA Money???
To Loneliness And Isolation For Seniors
Did you know that hearing loss and tinnitus are the
most commonly rated veterans disabilities? Did you
know that hearing loss and tinnitus can cause
other secondary conditions, particularly mental
health problems like depression and loneliness?
Chronic Pain Is an Impossible Problem
A “safe” alternative to opioid painkillers
turns out to be not so safe.
Jim Strickland is a Vietnam era Army veteran and nationally recognized expert on VA disability benefits
and a member of the Stateside Legal Website Advisory Board. Jim's Mailbag, is a regular column where veterans,
servicemembers, and family members can ask Jim their questions about VA and Social Security disability benefits.
You can browse all of these Q&As here, and search the Jim's Mailbag archives for helpful answers.
Just who do you think
you are?
Stats about veterans.
Percent of U.S. adult population who are veterans in 2017, by state
Employment Data for Veterans With Disabilities
Employment Situation of Veterans Summary
Immigrant Veterans in the United States
Demographics of the U.S. Military
Veterans and Military Documents
Military Programs and Benefits
Facts on Veterans and Entrepreneurship
American War and Military Operations
Casualties: Lists and Statistics
Tinnitus and hearing loss among
Veteran Social Security Beneficiaries
Veteran-Owned Businesses and Their Owners
48 Interesting U.S. Military Facts
The American Veteran Experience and the Post-9/11 Generation
National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics - Quick Facts
Global Firepower - 2019 World Military Strength Rankings
Medical Malpractice - Veterans 1151 Claims
Malpractice Attorneys Helping Veterans Harmed By The VA
Veterans Healthcare Rights - Federal Tort Claims -
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Key findings about America’s military veterans
The experiences of post-9/11 veterans differ from
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seen combat, experienced emotional trauma
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We've been keeping veterans informed of news and events important to them since 2005.
You'll find all you need to file your claim and referrals to professionals who can help you when things don't go well.
What you won't find here is unending chat or opinions from strangers who like to think of themselves as experts.
Our goal is to ensure that you are awarded the benefits you earned with your service to our country.
We're here to help you take charge of your benefits, and that is all.
Extra schedular ratings under
How can I get an extra schedular rating?
To receive an extra schedular rating the veteran
must first show that the veteran’s
conditions result in a disability picture
that is not covered by the schedule of ratings.
Gregory M. Rada - A Veteran for Veterans
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As an expert in psychological evaluations, Dr. Valette
provides Independent Medical Evaluations (IME),
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ratings reviews for all psychological conditions.
Some Wounds Can't Be Seen
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(a) General. Except as provided in §3.300(c), disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected. When service connection is thus established for a secondary condition, the secondary condition shall be considered a part of the original condition.
Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Bringing You Down???
Are you depressed, anxious, angry or moody because of your hearing problems?
Did you know your mental health issues may be secondary to hearing loss or tinnitus?
Dr. Brett Valette is a clinical psychologist specializing in veterans mental health disability. If you're suffering with problems you believe may be caused or aggravated by hearing loss, contact Dr. Valette and ask if you may have a secondary service connected condition.
BVA Decisions
Board of Veterans Appeals decisions are required reading for the veteran involved in a claim or an appeal. You should recognize that BVA decisions do not establish precedent. In legal systems based on common law, a precedent, or authority, is a principle or rule
established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. At VA and BVA every case is decided on its own merit. When you find a case similar to yours, you'll want to read it through and learn what that veteran did to win his appeal or if the case was denied, why? If you pattern your case in a way similar to those with positive outcomes, you're likely to prevail.
BVA Decision
THE ISSUES1. Entitlement to service connection for bowel incontinence, to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar disc disease. 2. Entitlement to service connection for bladder incontinence, to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar disc disease. 3. Entitlement to service connection or numbness and tingling of the right upper extremity, to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar disc disease. 4. Entitlement to service connection for numbness and tingling of the left upper extremity, to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar disc disease.
Secondary Conditions
PTSD, MST, TBI, Agent Orange Exposure, Back Injuries, Gulf War Syndrome, Migraines, Heart & Vascular Disease, DIC, Unemployability TDIU
Free Veterans Disability Consultation! Call Now! (800) 742-5035
Diabetes (DMII) as a primary condition
Diabetes is known to be very hard on the human vascular system. The veteran who has diabetes will be monitored for diseases of the arteries of the heart, the neck, the kidneys and the legs. If diabetes affects those arteries the veteran may develop ischemic heart disease, carotid artery disease, renal artery disease or peripheral artery disease.Those diagnoses may lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and difficulty in walking or even loss of a leg. If there is a diagnosis of DMI and that diagnosis is rated by VA as service connected, vascular diseases that are diagnosed later will be viewed as secondary conditions and will deserve an award of compensation. Interestingly, the diagnosis of service connected DMII must come first. If a veteran claims carotid artery disease in 2006 and is denied and then in 2009 he is diagnosed as having service connected DMII, the original denial is likely to remain as is. For a claim of a secondary condition, the primary service connected condition must be of record first. If the veteran has service connected diabetes, he or she may consider filing for;
Peripheral Artery Disease
Ischemic Heart Disease
Carotid Artery Disease
Stroke
Kidney Disease
Hypertension
Diseases of the Eye
There are many more conditions that may be caused by service connected diabetes.
How Do You Apply For Social Security Disability Benefits?
Information on social security disability benefits
8 Museums You Can Virtually Tour Right Now
Visit famous institutions in Paris, Amsterdam,
and more—without leaving home.
Regional Offices' Public Contact Closures
The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Regional Offices will be closed to the public starting March 19.
Regional offices will remain open, but will no longer accept walk-ins for claims assistance, scheduled appointments, counseling and other in-person services.
Coronavirus distancing: Don't forget about veterans.
For them, loneliness can be deadly.
Legislation already exists to get our service members
the help they need through animal companions.
We must make sure it passes and soon.
Misuse of Certain Nonopioid Analgesics on the Rise
Gabapentin, Baclofen May Be Seen
as Opioid Alternatives
How to file a VA disability claim
Find out how to file a claim for disability compensation
or increased disability compensation.
John Prine, One of America’s Greatest Songwriters, Dead at 73
Grammy-winning singer who combined literary genius with a common touch succumbs to coronavirus complications
His song, Sam Stone, is one of the most poignant and touching war stories ever told.
Written about the Vietnam era soldier, the message affects every veteran.
RIP
You Ready???
Are you aware that Amazon will deliver groceries to you? And often enough they beat in-store prices?
Don't worry that you forgot the dog food.
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Your 2020 Guide to Social Security Benefits
Whether you’re claiming Social Security in 2020, have been collecting benefits for years, or are still decades away, here’s what you need to know about this critically important retirement program.
Answers to your questions on stimulus checks
Are seniors on Social Security or
veterans on disability eligible?
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Is your disability pay fair game in a divorce?
(Yeah, it is...)
Veterans get more banking options,
Some veterans may have better access to banking now, through a partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Association of Military Banks of America.
Schedule for Rating Disabilities
Which Consumer Lenders Are (and Aren’t) Helping the Most - American Express (cards), Capital One (auto loans and cards) and JPMorgan Chase said they would allow people to skip payments, interest free.
Roger Hale, Veterans Law Attorney
Personal Injury Lawyer - Free Consultation For Veterans
Industrial Accidents Nursing Home Negligence Car Accidents
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Pain & Suffering Emotional & Mental Anguish
(405) 531-9983
Amazon Is Putting Book Deliveries Into the
Slow Lane Thanks to the Coronavirus
The retail giant is prioritizing household
and medical supplies, and pushing
everything else to the back of the queue.
Should I file a claim?
Potential VA claims?
What am I missing in the VA claims process?
Best way to check on a supplemental claim online?
Confused on what to do with claim.
Dependent status with education benefits.
Suing the VA for negligence and malpractice.
Trump: “We’ll be cutting” entitlement programs
White House: He didn’t really mean that.
Following his Fox News town hall, Stephanie Grisham and Kellyanne Conway denied that Trump said what he said.
C&P Service Clinician’s Guide
Scheduled For A C & P??? Filing A Claim?
This is a must read for you!!!
I've been posting this again and again over the years
and it's still one of the best ways I know to win
your case. Published in 2002 the principles and much of
the verbiage still applies and is in daily use at the VA.
VA Urgent Care Pharmacy Locations
Find VA-approved urgent care/retail location
pharmacies near a specific
address or ZIP code, or search by VA Facility.
Veterans PTSD Assessments
Independent Medical Opinions PTSD DBQs
Thomas Grieder, MD, PhD
Twenty five years service as a VA psychiatrist
Assistant Professor and Associate Clinical Professor
UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Lead psychiatrist for the East Los Angeles PTSD Clinical Team
BVA Decisions
THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for ulcerative colitis,
to include as secondary to service connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
THE ISSUES Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability,
including as secondary to the service-connected left foot disability.
§4.22 Rating of disabilities aggravated by active service.
In cases involving aggravation by active service, the rating will reflect only the degree of disability over and above the degree existing at the time of entrance into the active service whether the particular condition was noted at the time of entrance into the active service, or it is determined upon the evidence of record to have existed at that time. It is necessary therefore, in all cases of this character to deduct from the present degree of disability the degree, if ascertainable, of the disability existing at the time of entrance into active service, in terms of the rating schedule, except that if the disability is total (100 percent) no deduction will be made. The resulting difference will be recorded on the rating sheet. If the degree of disability at the time of entrance into the service is not ascertainable in terms of the schedule, no deduction will be made.
Thomas J. Seiter, Jr., M.D.
Independent Medical Opinions
Disability Benefit Questionnaires (DBQ's)
Service & Civilian Medical Record Reviews
Nexus Letters
Get In Touch With Dr. Seiter
BVA Decision
THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for degenerative joint disease, left hip,
secondary to service-connected left hallux valgus, left great toe, status post-bunionectomy and metatarsal osteotomy. 2. Entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity sciatica secondary to service-connected degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine at L3-L4, L5-L6, and L6-S1. 3. Entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity sciatica secondary to service-connected degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine at L3-L4, L5-L6, and L6-S1. 4. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder to include anxiety and depression, secondary to service-connected disabilities.
Your VA Disability Rating & The Schedule
Let's spend a few minutes talking about how VA arrives at the rating you'll receive once your claim has been adjudicated. The process isn't (or shouldn't be) complex. You have a medical problem you feel is connected to your honorable military service. You file a claim
seeking compensation for the disabling condition. VA then gathers all pertinent records and any other relevant evidence and schedules you for a C & P exam. Once all that is completed, a Ratings Veterans Service Representative (RVSR) will study all of that and issue a rating.
As the RVSR reviews the evidence, your condition and the amount of disability the condition is causing will be derived from
38 CFR Book C, Schedule for Rating Disabilities .
Much of what you'll find there is in need of updating to reflect a more modern medical approach to illness and injury but for now, The Schedule is what we have to work with. As you file your disability benefits claim you'll want to look at the language VA uses to define different ratings for your specific malady. If you have a knee problem, you'll go to
4.40 - 4.73 - The Musculoskeletal System
and then explore until you learn all you ever wanted to know about how VA rates knee injuries. The same holds true for any illness or injury you believe is connected to your service. If your specific condition isn't listed, that's not unusual and VA allows for symptoms of a like kind to be rated by similar symptoms of similar conditions. As you perfect your benefits portfolio, you should become familiar with The Schedule. The more you know, the more control you have over your benefits.
Other examples that may be secondary are:
If you have a rated hip condition and it affects your back, you may want to file for the back pain as a secondary
condition. If you take medications for service connected PTSD, you may be eligible to file for erectile dysfunction.
Many psychiatric medicines will cause or contribute to ED. If you are rated (service connected) for hearing loss,
don't overlook the tinnitus that may accompany acoustic trauma. Severe hearing loss may also lead to mental health
conditions like depression. If you have a condition that has caused significant disability to a leg, that injury
may affect the other leg, the hip or your back.
The VA will almost certainly deny your claim for a secondary condition. That's why we have expert doctors for IMOs and
veterans law attorneys to manage appeals. Appeal is just a part of the process...go for it.
You should consider obtaining an IME/IMO at your earliest convenience.
Google Tracks You
and we don't.
DuckDuckGo apps block
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The world needs an alternative
Robert Wilkie <robert.wilkie@va.gov> 855-948-2311
One More Reason You Need An Independent Medical Opinion
VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION
Accuracy of Claims Decisions Involving Conditions of the Spine
A coronavirus outbreak aboard an aircraft carrier is one of
the possibilities facing the US military
How would the Navy react if a sailor aboard a large ship such as an aircraft carrier tested positive for the coronavirus?
What You Should Know about Disability and Debt
There Are Protections...When it comes to debt collection, disability income enjoys special status.
Welcome to the KnowVA Knowledge Base
Locate information more quickly and efficiently
How to ensure seamless care while traveling
How To Get Urgent Care For Free
You are authorized urgent care but you must be prepared!
How Divorce, Alimony, and Child Support
Affect Veterans' VA Benefits
VA benefits can be garnished only for spousal
or child support, and only under certain conditions.
Drew Early Veterans Law Attorney
Graduate of the US Military Academy, West Point
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Medical Marijuana Card
Tell the doctor you saw it on VAWatchdog
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The NPRC
Military Records DD 214
Announcing the Veterans Benefits Banking Program
A partnership between VA and the
Association of Military Banks of America
Urgent Care Centers
One of the most important benefits you have today is
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'How To Lie With Statistics'
Con artists may try to get your Medicare
Number or personal information so they can steal
your identity and commit Medicare fraud.
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Social Security recipients who don’t usually
file tax returns will automatically get $1,200
payments, Treasury says in reversal
Most high school seniors and college
students still won’t get any money at all.
Florida veterans health centers moving to virtual appointments to combat coronavirus
to stay home and avoid exposure
Your state runs County Veterans Service Offices
for you and they're working today.
An IMO by an expert often makes the difference!
How To File a VA Disability Appeal
You have the right to appeal any benefits decision made by the Veterans Benefits Administration. The VA appeals process is set in law and is different from other judicial appeals processes. Find out how to file an appeal.
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Medical Malpractice
Download VA benefit letters
To receive some benefits, Veterans need a letter
proving their status.
For Better Brain Health, Preserve Your Hearing
Hearing loss is the largest modifiable risk factor for developing dementia, exceeding that of smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise and social isolation.
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VA launches online patient portal for veterans
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
announced the launch of an online patient portal
this month that will provide service veterans
with digital access to their patient statements.
VA Health Care Public Health Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)
What you should know
VA is working closely with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal partners, monitoring an outbreak of Novel Coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.
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