Did you know that you get better with age? Especially if you had a back injury… or, at least, that is what the VA thinks. There are an increasing number of back injuries suffered by veterans downgraded in their disability rating simply because their back injury occurred a “long time ago.” This is absurd, but under the reasoning of the federal government back injuries get better as you get older.
Research clearly shows that once a person injures their back the injury is never fully healed. Instead, a person must manage the pain with exercise, rest and, at times, medication. Thus, the cases that are coming in our office with back injuries that are being decreased in their ratings is contrary to medical evidence. So what is a veteran to do in this situation? Here are three keys.
1. Make sure you appeal—file a notice of disagreement to a reduction in disability benefits is the first step to ensuring that you can preserve your claim for the fight that is ahead of you!
2. Develop medical evidence—find the right medical expert to assist you in developing your claim. This is the key to victory in the fight. Without the proper medical information and opinion the veteran will be faced with the opinion from the VA doctors indicating that the veterans injuries should be getting better with time.
3. Know the procedure—make sure the veteran understands the VA’s procedure for changing disability benefits. While the standard is to give the veteran the benefit of the doubt, this doesn’t mean that a veteran is safe. Instead, getting the benefit of the doubt depends on how a veteran pursues their claim. That is why knowing the procedure for challenging wrongly interpreted medical evidence is the key to justice!
If a veteran is armed with these keys then the veteran will be well under way to making sure that justice is done! Make sure that the veteran who suffered an injury a long time ago isn’t injured a second time by the red tape of how the VA looks at injuries.
