Federal Circuit Rules Veterans Can Seek Benefits for Pain Related to Service
April 04, 2018
For 19 years, lower court precedent has prevented veterans from obtaining disability benefits based on pain alone. The Department of Veterans Affairs has, until this federal holding, required that pain be attributed to a specific medical diagnosis. Going forward, veterans should be able to obtain disability benefits for pain that is related to an event, injury, or disease that occurred during military service.
Earlier this month, in Saunders v. Wilkie, the Federal Circuit overturned a 1999 Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims decision. In part, the 1999 decision held that the VA had no authority to award benefits to veterans experiencing pain that could not be specifically linked to a medical diagnosis. In the case at hand, Ms. Saunders had gone through a lengthy appeals process; attempting to have her benefits awarded. She developed knee problems through her years of service, but without a specific disease to explain the pain, she was never able to secure disability benefits.
The Federal Circuit’s favorable decision will not only allow Ms. Saunders to receive her benefits, but the decision could impact thousands of veterans with similar issues. To put the significance of the Federal Circuit’s decision into perspective; the Board of Veterans’ Appeals has cited the 1999 precedent over 11,000 times in individual decisions.