Tag: Gulf

Single Judge Application; solvent; Veterans Benefits Administration documents undermine the Secretary’s current claim of ignorance as to what constitutes a solvent. See, e.g., VA ADJUDICATIONS PROCEDURES MANUAL (M21-1MR), pt. IV, subpt. 2, ch. 1, § E(19)(g) (discussing solvent exposure in Gulf War veterans); VA Training Letter 10-01 (Feb. 4, 2010) (same); VA CLINICIANS’ GUIDE § 20.1 (same); VA Training Letter 07-04 (July 5, 2007) (solvent exposure in Navy divers); VA Training Letter 10-03 (Apr. 26, 2010) (solvent exposure from burn pits in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti and at the Naval Air Facility in Atsugi, Japan); VA Training Letter 11-03 (Nov. 21, 2011) (solvent exposure for veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune).;
Single Judge Application; Tadlock remand from Federal Circuit; overlapping signs or symptoms; Veterans of the Gulf War can establish entitlement to service connection on a presumptive basis for “a qualifying chronic disability” that arises during service or to a compensable degree before December 31, 2026. 38 U.S.C. § 1117; 38 C.F.R. § 3.317(a)(1)(i) (2021). A “qualifying chronic disability” is one that results from either an “undiagnosed illness” or a “medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness [(MUCMI)] that is defined by a cluster of signs or symptoms.” 38 C.F.R. § 3.317(a)(2)(i)(A)-(B). A MUCMI, inturn, is defined as “a diagnosed illness without conclusive pathophysiology or etiology, that is characterized by overlapping symptoms and signs and has features such as fatigue, pain, disability out of proportion to physical findings, and inconsistent demonstration of laboratory abnormalities.” Id. § 3.317(a)(2)(ii);