Legal Question in Veterans Law in Indiana

military disability claim

I am a veteran who served on active duty 1984-1988. I recieved an honorable discharge. upon discharge I entered the Indiana National Guard. I was diagnosed scizophrenic and was given a medical discharge from the Nationa

guard. I was denied compensation because they claimed my disability was not service connected. my diagnosis was changed to bipolar disorder over time. should I make another claim and how can I prove my disability is service connected


Asked on 3/04/09, 12:30 am

3 Answers from Attorneys
Jill Mitchell-Thein Heard & Smith, LLP

Re: military disability claim

You should file a claim to reopen as soon as possible to get your new effective date started. Changing diagnoses are common in mental disability cases. When there is a medical discharge, usually a VA claim based on the same disability should be clearly service-connected. An attorney would need to review your file to see if any clear error occurred the first time. Before you can win this claim, you will have to get it reopened. They don't re-open just at your request. I think for you to not only get it reopened, but to also win, you will need to file a new medical opinion (probably from a private doctor) that the bipolar disorder you have now is the same disability you have had all along, no matter what it was called--or that it was a precursor to your current condition. Of course, if you have updated VA medical records that may support this concept, that would help you, too. Good luck.

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Answered on 3/04/09, 4:41 pm
Patrick Tracy Patrick J. Tracy, Esq, P.E.,

Re: military disability claim

You can always reopen claims with new and material evidence. The service must have caused or exacerbated a condition for them to pay you compensation.

Good luck!

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Answered on 3/04/09, 6:18 am


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