Back pain can be debilitating and significantly affect your quality of life and ability to work. If you are a Veteran of the United States military and are suffering from back pain, you may be able to seek benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA offers considerable benefits to eligible Veterans, but the claims filed are not always successful. Our firm seeks to help you successfully claim benefits or properly appeal a denial, and a lawyer for Veterans’ back pain claims in Parkersburg can provide all the information you need.
In order to gain benefits from the VA, a Veteran must meet a few basic requirements. A Veteran must have served active duty in any branch of the Armed Forces, including the National Guard or Reserves if they were called to active duty.
VA benefits only apply for service related disabilities. In order to have a successful claim, there must be a connection between the time of service and the back pain suffered. Benefits can be offered for both training injuries and combat related injuries. These impairments must also either be diagnosed or have medical evidence showing that the back pain is significant enough to affect the person’s work or daily life. Gathering these documents for Veterans’ back pain claims can be difficult, but one of our Parkersburg lawyers can help you organize the evidence needed to file a successful claim.
There are several different types of claims that are available to Veterans suffering from back pain or other service related disabilities. The first is a direct claim, which is made when an injury is directly related to an in-service event. This is the most common type of claim. To prove direct service connection for back pain, you would need a current diagnosis of a back condition or medical evidence of back pain, an in-service event, and a medical nexus, or link, connecting the two. Veterans no longer require a medical diagnosis in order to receive benefits and can instead provide medical documentation proving their pain and its relation to their time in the Armed Forces.
Secondary claims can also be made in order to gain benefits. A secondary service connection means that the present back pain is connected to a condition that is already service connected. Lastly, Veterans who are unable to maintain or gain employment due to service connected back pain may be eligible for a disability claim.
The financial benefits available for back pain claims vary between former service members. Compensation depends on the specific disability rating that the VA assigns each individual, and the total rating will indicate the amount of benefits the Veteran is granted. The rating works on a scale of 0-100, in increments of 10, with 0 being no disability and 100 being total disability. A higher rating indicates a higher amount of benefits available. Our Parkersburg lawyers can help ensure that a Veteran’s rating for their back pain is fair and accurate.
Because VA disability claims can be more difficult than you might think, it can prove useful to have legal counsel guiding you through the process. Lawyers at our firm can help you build a strong application and appeal it in the event of a claim denial. Contact us for a free consultation today about your Veterans’ back pain claims.
