PACT Act CRSC denied, wtf

T

TallTree

Well-Known Member
PEB Forum Veteran
Registered Member
I applied for tinnitis and got approved. In the approval letter, they said I should apply for another of my disabilities due to the PACT Act:

OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA WITH CHRONIC BRONCHITIS

Chronic Bronchitis is one of the PACT Act conditions, and so I applied with ample proof of my 8 deployments to the middle east.

And it got denied today. Here's what the letter says:

You claimed a disability which was incurred by Gulf War exposure. For this disability to be considered combat-related, it must be specifically granted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as presumptive to Gulf War. For reconsideration of your claim, you must provide the initial VA Rating Decision for the claimed disability showing, not just service connection, but the specific cause of the condition; such as, member has obstructive sleep apnea with chronic bronchitis due to Gulf War exposure (environmental hazards).

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awards service connected disabilities based on their standards. They resolve doubt in the interest of the veteran and grant service connection for injuries or diseases incurred while in service. While service connection for disabilities is required for initial eligibility for CRSC consideration, CRSC criteria requires documentation to support a qualifying combat-related event or events as the direct cause of a disability.
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What gives? I reached out to my VSO and applied for help with the Lawyers Serving Warriors org with the National Veterans Legal Services Program. Of course the adjucator doesn't provide any contact information, but because I have access to the outlook global address book, I have her email and phone number. I know better than to contact her but it really seems like they just forgot about the PACT Act. Or am I completely wrong here?
 
Nope, never thought of that, I will see what I can do.
 
Well, that took about an hour but I am now in the registry.
 
Registry has nothing to do with the Presumptive determination. That's just for the VA to contact you. Obviously I would appeal it showing, in detail, your "vacation visits" ;) to the East - now, here's where things might rub wrong: make sure it's not with orders. Orders are not considered source documents as they can be amended and rescinded. Eval reports, awards, etc, are considered source documents.
 
RetiredColonel-MikeT said:
Registry has nothing to do with the Presumptive determination. That's just for the VA to contact you. Obviously I would appeal it showing, in detail, your "vacation visits" ;) to the East - now, here's where things might rub wrong: make sure it's not with orders. Orders are not considered source documents as they can be amended and rescinded. Eval reports, awards, etc, are considered source documents.
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Somewhat related, although for another “presumptive”.

For CRSC, the primary source document for the approval of several diseases I cited on my CRSC application was the VA award letter I received in the mail (several pages).

The narrative in the VA award letter included language similar to: “…diabetes 2 is approved based on the presumption it was caused by exposure to toxins/Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam 1970-1971.” Note: That sentence is not verbatim .

I had proved to the VA that I had been in VIETNAM with : DD 214, DA Form 20, DA form 2-1. Not submitted and after the fact: I have the DA Form 1, Morning Report, for my unit in Vietnam and the day I was assigned.

Ron
 
Dude, thank you. I will get on that with the VA. It definitely isn’t proof that I was deployed, I have 8 deployments to the Middle East and I included 8 letter of evaluations for each trip as well as 8 air medal citations that describe my missions over the desert.
 
TallTree said:
Dude, thank you. I will get on that with the VA. It definitely isn’t proof that I was deployed, I have 8 deployments to the Middle East and I included 8 letter of evaluations for each trip as well as 8 air medal citations that describe my missions over the desert.
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My case:

The nexus between serving in Vietnam and having the presumptive caused-by diseases was established by the VA decision and compensation awards.

Ron
 
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