US Supreme Court Deals Blow to Veterans Seeking Disability Comp

The Supreme Court on  April 21, 2009  struck a blow to veterans seeking to dispute medical claims denied by the Veterans Affairs Department. Reversing a lower court decision, the justices found that veterans must prove that any alleged mistakes made by the VA ultimately resulted in the denial of their claims. The lower court had ruled that the burden was on the VA. The case is Shinseki v. Sanders.  

Challenges to the sufficiency of the notice given to vets by the VA in connection with a disbility claim has historically been a fertile source getting the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims to remand cases where claim had been denied. This ruling will probably do away with most notice arguments, because the vet is required to show that the defective notice changed the outcome of his or her case, which is not possible in most instances.

Vets have to work for legislative changes to bring this archaic system into the 21st century.