Military service can lead to a lot of aches and pains. Even if you weren't involved in a severely traumatic incident, there are still many ways that normal wear and tear can have a major impact on your civilian life. Some traumatic injuries may even be denied compensation if the Veterans Affairs (VA) administration doesn't believe that you're currently suffering. If you know you haven't healed up and life is more difficult because of your condition, take the time to understand what you need to do for a claim and how a personal injury attorney can help.
Why Would Real Pain Be Denied?
You may be dealing with back pain that makes lifting and moving difficult. Head pains could cripple you while you try to work, play or sleep. All of these problems are real and can be caused by military service, but you need to have proof that it's happening.
The VA is dedicated to serving veterans as necessary, but the disability compensation is only for veterans who can prove a service connection. You may be suffering from pain, but without a medical examination and evidence showing why you're suffering, there's no telling if it is real pain, extreme pain or an act.
A denial isn't calling your condition a fake. It simply means that you don't have enough information to prove that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, you're suffering from a problem caused by military service. This isn't just an issue with the VA; finding the cause of pain is a mystery for many people, and the burden of proving how that pain is caused can be heavy.
Your best chance for making your claim related to the military is having a documented issue in your medical record. Hopefully, you've been to medical and complained about pain. If you've had an accident in the military or were involved in any violent event that could have led to pain, include it.
This is where your investigation ends and a professional should step in. Many veterans exclude certain evidence because they're sure that a specific incident caused the pain and not some other incident during the military service. What you should be doing is submitting all possible causes--every single thing that could cause pain or disability of any kind--and allowing the VA to figure out what matters.
A Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help With Documentation
Unfortunately, sending in your entire medical record won't help. At some point, VA officials may review your entire record if it's obvious that you have a problem and they need to figure out a solution by researching your issue. For your initial claim and appeals to get a rating at all, it's not likely that the VA will comb through your claim for you.
A personal injury lawyer can help by doing the deep research. With a lawyer's help, your old medical record entries can be isolated for their potential, creating miniature claim arguments for each issue and attaching them to your pain. It doesn't matter if you're sure that a specific issue caused the pain; right now, you need a disability rating of any kind. After being approved, you can work on the specifics and get to the bottom of the issue.
Injury lawyers also have access to medical professionals with injury claim experience. There's a difference between a standard doctor dedicated to finding cures or relieving pain and a medical staff that can create evidence based on their observations. To get the experience and support you need for a successful VA claim or appeal, contact a personal injury lawyer.
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