The Department
of Veterans Affairs
(VA) linked five more illnesses to traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The good
news for veterans suffering from these illnesses, as well as TBI, is that they
will have an easier time getting much-needed additional disability benefits.
The
five conditions linked to moderate to severe TBI were: Parkinson’s disease, certain
types of dementia, depression, unprovoked seizures, and certain diseases of the
hypothalamus and pituitary glands.
Those
secondary illnesses will be considered service-connected and won’t require
medical opinions to establish whether there is correlation to TBI. However, the
findings come with some caveats to receiving benefits.
The
severity of a TBI must be “moderate to severe” and three of the five illnesses
need to manifest themselves within a certain length of time from the TBI.
Dementia must manifest within 15 years of a TBI. For depression, it’s three
years (or 12 months for a mild TBI). For hormone deficiencies of the
hypothalamus or pituitary glands it’s 12 months.
Still,
the VA encourages veterans to file claims even if they don’t meet the severity
of TBI or length of time between TBI and the secondary illness.
For
more information on veteran benefits and answers to FAQs, visit www.legalhelpforveterans.com and be sure to check out our e-books
as well.
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