What the ‘MUCMI’ is going on with GERD?
PREVIEW OF THE CASE:
General Overview of the Medicine
Some terms you will hear in this argument:
GERD is Gastro Esophageal Reflux Disorder. GERD can often – but not always -result from a dysfu…
Read More
Issue for Oral Argument:
General Overview of the Law
When a veteran’s disability does not meet the requirements for the next higher schedular rating, but the evidence indicates his or her disability is more severe than the current rating, a veteran…
Read More
What is the Deep Issue in the Case?
The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims shall have exclusive jurisdiction to review BVA decisions; however, the Court may not review the schedule of ratings for disabilities adopted under 38 USC 1155 –…
Read More
What is the Deep Issue in the Case?
When establishing a PTSD rating, the Board of Veterans Appeals is required to “engage in a holistic analysis” of a veteran’s mental health symptoms to determine the proper disability percnetage.…
Read More
What is the Deep Issue in the Case?
Extra-schedular consideration should be considered “where the schedular evaluations are found to be inadequate.” 38 C.F.R. § 3.321(b)(1) (emphasis added).
The herring loss rating criteria are la…
Read More
What is the Deep Issue in the Case?
The Board of Veterans Appeals must analyze the legal credibility and probative value of the evidence, accounting for that which is persuasive or unpersuasive, and providing reasons for rejection material evi…
Read More
What is the “Deep Issue” in the case?
A veteran is entitled to special monthly compensation (SMC) if, owing to a service-connected disability the veteran suffered anatomical loss of use of one or both feet. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(k),…
Read More
This case involves the application of a duplicitous legal standard by the BVA to a veteran’s TDIU appeal, in what is called a “reasons and bases” error by the Board of Veterans Appeals.
While it favored a VA C&P medical opinion…
Read More
This case involves several issues but centered around two: the veteran’s entitlement to increased TBI (Traumatic-Brain-Injury) and migraine ratings.
ISSUE ON APPEAL TO THE CAVC (TBI & Migraine Ratings).
The veteran in this case was in a c…
Read More
ISSUE ON APPEAL TO THE CAVC: PTSD rating higher than 50-percent.
The veteran appealed to the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) seeking a PTSD rating higher than 50-percent. The VA had performed a VA C&P examination and opinion in January 2019. Rely…
Read More
As we approach Black History Month and Women’s History Month, I am presented with an opportunity to write about a Black woman. So, I chose me!
I am an Afro-Latina who also identifies as Black. On my census bureau application last y…
Read More
Dear Veteran, We the People, the 79.8 million of us, voted that temporary economic stability should not come at the expense of Black, Hispanic, frontline workers, the immuno-compromised, and elderly lives. We demanded that the unity of our country m…
Read More
Racist Ideas, Attitudes, and Behavior
On March 1, 2016, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it proposed disciplinary action against three Board of Veterans’ Appeals (BVA) attorneys and two judges who had repeatedly sent racist…
Read More
By: Yalitza Ledgister, writing for “The Bridge”
One day my son came home from school and, pointing to his brown arms, asked, “Mom, why can’t I have white skin?”
After the initial shock and parent-fail slap wore off, I…
Read More