Chicago Injury Lawyer Blog

The lives of many veterans from the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan may change as “the government is preparing to issue new rules that will make it substantially easier for veterans who have been found to have post traumatic stress disorder receive disability benefits.” (J. Dao, NY Times, 7/7).

The Department of Veterans Affairs regulations, “will essentially eliminate a requirement that veterans document specific events like bomb blasts, firefights or mortar attacks that might have cause P.T.S.D.” Finding such records can be extraordinarily time consuming and sometimes impossible. Others assert that veterans who did not serve in combat still suffer from P.T.S.D. and could not receive any benefits.

Under the new rule, which applies to veterans of all wars, “the department will grant compensation to those with P.T.S.D. if they can simply show that they served in a war zone and in a job consistent with the events that they say caused their conditions. They would not have to prove, for instance, that they came under fire, served in a front-line unit or saw a friend killed.”

Although many assert that this change will open the door for many baseless claims, the veterans department will continue to review all claims and can discard those that are fraudulent.
As a personal injury attorney in Chicago, I am very pleased with this positive change to the Department of Veterans Affairs rules as many veterans who have suffered from P.T.S.D. have gone uncompensated for too long.