A 2018 court ruling opened the door to VA disability benefits for thousands of veterans suffering from pain related to their military service. Before this legal decision VA took the position that to be eligible for disability payments veterans had to have a clear diagnosis of an injury and, regardless of how much pain a vet was suffering, pain in and of itself was not a disability. This was a 19-year precedent used by the VA in denying more than 11,000 disability claims.
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit changed all of that with a ruling which said that pain, even without any underlying disability, may be a valid reason for awarding compensation. It cited the definition of a disability as “an impairment in the enjoyment of life or earning ability” and said that “pain is a form of functional impairment.”
At cuddiganlaw.com and on our YouTube channel you will find a number of videos which explore how VA disability benefits may be awarded for specific pain issued in the neck, back, shoulders, hips, feet and more. You can view those for free whether you are one of our clients or not.
