Today I answer questions about Military Sexual Trauma (MST), VA Sleep Apnea Claims, and VA Rating Reduction Appeals. Learn how to submit your questions to the Veterans Lawyer at the Veterans Law Blog

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Your Questions...Answered By a Veterans Disability Attorney.
Why can't a Veterans Disability Attorney teach you
some of the basic things you can do to improve your
own VA Claim?
As long as I don't give legal advice in your specific
claims, I can't see why a Veterans Disability
Attorney can't help you understand the VA Claims
process and law.
So - I won't give legal advice about specific claims.
There is no substitute for legal advice from an
accredited Veterans attorney, and this post is NOT
legal advice.
What I'm trying to do here is share with you more
information about how the VA Claims Process
works - I see it much more than most Veterans, and
I have figured out a thing or two working as a Veterans Disability Attorney since 2007.
Let me know if you like the concept, and how I can make it better in the comments section below.
Veterans Disability Attorney Q&A.
I can't see a reason why a Veterans Disability Attorney should not teach Veterans how to improve their own VA
Claims.
So, in today's post, I'm going to answer a few questions that have come in through MailCall lately.
(I do edit or shorten the questions to make them more clear, to delete out private information, or to change the name
of the Veteran if the question is particularly personal. Otherwise, these are actual questions from actual Veterans)
Just remember - nothing in this post is intended to be specific legal advice. If you need the rest of the disclaimers and
legalese, you can read it all here.
Want to submit your question to Mail Call? Visit this link and fill in the form.
*****
Veteran Romon F. asks: "Have you had a case for OSA that was secondary to depression medication causing
weight gain which affects ones OSA?

2. Answer: Yes, we have. While only one of the 3
dozen conditions that are known to have a causal
connection with Sleep Apnea, weight gain or
obesity can easily cause sleep apnea.
And if the medication you are taking for a service
connected condition (i.e., depression, PTSD,
anxiety disorders, etc) is causing the weight gain
that is causing the sleep apnea, then you will need
to assemble the medical evidence that shows this
chain of events to prove your claim.
I am actually working on a case right now where
the Veteran (who was a pretty avid weightlifter in
service) who experienced weight gain that caused
sleep apnea.
The weight gain in his case was caused by some
pretty significant knee injuries during a training
exercise that forced him to stop lifting weights and
working out.
In my Veterans Law Guidebook "Put it to Rest! Your VA Sleep Apnea Claim", I go into great detail about how to prove
"nexus" between a service-connected condition and sleep apnea.
I'll also teach you what medical evidence you need to support this claim, and I'll show you how to "Put it All Together"
by walking you through the 4 Most Common Sleep Apnea scenarios in service connection claims.
You can learn more about the Sleep Apnea Guidebook, (pictured to the left) download an individual copy of that book
- or get a discount on the Sleep Apnea Guidebook packages - by visiting this page.
*****
Veteran Krystal M. (we changed Veteran's name for privacy purposes) asks: "I have been fighting for PTSD
related to MST in the military. My commander forced me into a sexual relationship or
he would force me out of nursing school. The VA is stating I was only in the military 90
days and never reported this to anyone so it could not have occurred. I've been
divorced twice, suffer severe migraines, depression, anxiety, insomnia and have lost
my second marriage. How do I prove this event occurred?"
Answer: So many military sexual assaults go unreported, and these are the hardest
types of claims to prove.
The culture inside the VA is still very Neanderthal: those that claim rape or sexual
assault in the military are often required to prove their own credibility. Perhaps its
because the same people committing the assaults are deciding claims based on
Military Sexual Assault.
To prove that a sexual assault occurred where there was no contemporaneous report
- for the purpose of a VA Claim - you are going to have to look to corroborate your
statement that it occurred with what are often called "Markers" of Sexual Assault .

3. By the way, the Veteran pictured to the right is a victim of Military Sexual Assault, who has turned into an advocate for
fellow victims. Her post on how to survive the VA claims process is pretty powerful, if you ask me. I hope you click on
over and take a moment to read it.
Also, I'm writing a Veterans Law Guidebook specifically designed to help the victims of Military Sexual Trauma
navigate the VA Claims Process. If you'd like, I can send you an email to let you know when the book is being
published.
*****
Veteran Russell M. asks: "I am 55 years old. I have a 100 percent rating for MDD/PTSD (April 2010) and a 70
percent rating for feet, wrist, shoulder, knees and Hep C (1999). I go to VA every week for mental health treatment for
7 years now. I have tried all the medications for depression and none of them worked and had very bad side effects.
I know nothing is permanent in VA ratings but in your opinion will I be safe at current rating?"
Answer: Russell, as your claim passes through certain time periods, it becomes more and more "stable" - meaning
that it becomes harder for the VA to reduce the rating.
I've written an entire post on this topic - how and when the VA can and cannot reduce a rating - which you can read by
clicking here, or on the image to the left.
I see the VA do 2 things wrong in reduction case - over and over
again:
1) They fail to provide the Veteran with notice of their intent to
reduce a benefit, and,
2) They base their decision to reduce the benefits on just the
most recent exam, instead of looking at the WHOLE picture of the
Veteran's disability.
I once saw the VA propose to reduce a Veteran's 100% rating for
a particular cancer because he was in hospice - meaning he had
less than 6 months to live - and the hospice nurse wrote that his
situation was "stabilized".
The VA thought that meant the cancer stabilized - not the pain that the Hospice Nurse was treating. The Veteran died
of service-connected cancer while the VA was fighting to cut his benefits.
Shame on them.
Learn when the VA can reduce your benefits, and when they cannot - and learn how to fight these claims. It's really
hard to find an attorney that can help in these types of claims.
A lot of folks think its because the attorney isn't getting paid - and this is flat out untrue (at least when it comes to the
Attig Law Firm).
My Firm doesn't take reduction claims unless we are already working with the Veteran on other appeals - we have
such limited time and resources to help that we try to focus on the types of cases that we have a particular affinity
towards.
Want to Submit a Question to ask the Veterans Disability Attorney?
Want to submit your question to Mail Call? Visit this link and fill in the form.

4. Like the Veterans Disability Attorney Q&A?
Let me know if you like the concept, and how I can make it better in the comments section below.
Chris Attig, an Accredited Veterans Benefits attorney and Founder of the Attig Law Firm, PLLC is responsible for the
content of the site. The principal office of Attig Law Firm, PLLC, is located in Dallas, Texas. Chris Attig is NOT
Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. - Please view our website disclaimer.
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