Receiving a remand from the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) can seem like a mixed blessing. On the one hand, the Board has not denied your claim(s), allowing you to continue to prosecute your case. Yet, on the other, the battle to get your entitled benefits continues without any apparent end in sight. One thing is for sure: DO NOT …

There are two ways to establish service-connection for service-related disability(ies). The first, causal service-connection, is the most common and familiar. If some in-service incident (e.g. physical accident/injury, toxic exposure or psychological trauma) results in a permanent disability, the disability is deemed service-connected/service-related. It is important to keep in mind that the in-service incident need not immediately cause the disability; the …

1) What is Sleep Apnea? Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. People with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times. This means the brain — and the rest of the body — may not get enough oxygen. There are two types of sleep …

The only constant in life is change. Military members are trained to be prepared for the unexpected, and to adapt to changing circumstances on a moment’s notice. But when you have returned to civilian life, you are hoping for more predictability, especially when it comes to disability payments and the ability (or inability) to work. If a veteran meets the …

This, in my opinion, is the most important, and yet most difficult, challenge for disabled veterans. In the vast majority of cases, VA disability claims are won or lost on the medical evidence. The medical evidence process usually starts with the VA obtaining a one-time medical examination as part of its duty-to-assist, which includes a written opinion based upon the …

Now that you or your spouse have completed your active military duty and returned to the civilian world, you may feel like you have merely exchanged one set of stresses for another, including navigating the VA’s application process for any disability benefits to which you might be entitled. You might have heard about TDIU – total disability individual unemployability – …

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that military members suffer from during and after their service. Yet, it is also one of the most difficult conditions to prove for the purposes of establishing disability benefits for veterans. A knowledgeable disability benefits attorney in your area is your best chance to prove that you are …

Disability Benefits Questionnaires or DBQs are the standard VA templates for VA and private examination reports.  DBQs set forth an exhaustive list of questions to be addressed by physicians and these responses are used to evaluate a veteran’s disability claim.  If your treating physician or a consulting physician is going to write an opinion in support of your claim, have …

After serving your country selflessly and completing your military service, you were left with a life-altering injury or condition. You completed an application for veterans’ disability compensation for your service-related injury, but you just received a denial or lower rating than expected. This can be incredibly disappointing, but it does not mean that you should give up! You can appeal …

A recent NPR story examines the connection between veteran suicides and access to guns. Recent trends dramatize the urgency of the issue, but taking any action is controversial. Suicide rates have been rising in the US, and veterans now have a higher rate than civilians for the first time in history. The situation is especially alarming for women. Female veterans have a …