by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer So the government lets veterans hire lawyers, but it is not happy about that. When the VA is wrong at the Court of Appeals, which it is about 75% of the time, VA has to pay legal fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA). The fees are limited, but […]
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer A group of former military members are suing the senior leaders of DOD claiming they have been slow to change the DOD culture. They claim the senior leaders are tolerating rape and harassment of women service members. The suit was filed this week and NBC reported the story this […]
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Lawyer Vets were exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam, Thailand and Korea. Veterans exposed to herbicides while serving along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in Korea will have an easier path to access quality health care and benefits under a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) final regulation that will expand the dates […]
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veteran Disability Attorney We see so many errors by VA RO raters that technology improvements are warranted. A VA employee developed a hearing test calculator to automate the steps for determining compensation owed for varying degrees of hearing loss. After testing, the hearing loss calculator worked so well that VBA has rolled […]
by Jim Fausone Veterans Disability Lawyer VA runs the largest health care system in the world. Most of the time the VA provides excellent health care. VA issues an annual report card on its services. The latest 200 page document reports that last year there were 62,686,340 outpatient visits in VA. The average number of […]
Mental Health, News and Press, PTSD
by Jim Fausone Veterans Lawyer A new study may be of help to veterans when making their PTSD claim. Female veterans who become pregnant may be at more risk for mental health disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety, a study finds. VA commissioned a 5 year study. Among the study participants, 32% […]
Claims Processing, News and Press
by Jim Fausone Veterans Lawyer Veterans Affairs has recently vowed to eliminate the backlog in veterans benefits claims by the end of 2015. There is a million claim backlog across all levels and it takes years to process a claim. However, VA says all those seeking payment will have to wait no longer than three […]
by Jim Fausone Veteran Lawyer A local Michigan documentary film producer, Keith Famie, has a new film out about the Vietnam generation. This DVD follows on the heels of his critically acclaimed film “Detroit: Our Greatest Generation ” about Detroit’s role in WWII. Keith is a dedicated and skilled storyteller and film maker. I have […]
by Jim Fausone, Veteran Lawyer We have written about the MST problem before. Military Sexual Trauma broadly covers rape, sexual harassment and discrimination. We deal with the aftermath when veterans seek compensation for MST. About 80 percent of unwanted or threatening sexual acts are not reported. Victims who report abuse to their superiors often face social isolation, retribution […]
by Jim Fausone, Veteran Attorney The first large scale study of female veterans found that female veterans — age 18 to 34 — are three times as likely as their civilian peers to die by suicide. Veterans make up 20% of the people who commit suicide in the country. However veterans only make up 12 % of the population. […]