The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
recently ruled that the law requires the Department of
Veterans Affairs to provide a veteran seeking disability
benefits with notice if he submits insufficient evidence to substantiate a disability claim. The Veterans Claim
Assistance Act requires that the agency issue a statement
of what further evidence the vet needs for the VA to make a
disability determination, said the court.
The case arose when a veteran applied for disability
benefits based on a claim of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Board of Veterans Appeals found, on the evidence
submitted by the veteran, that he had not provided the board
with sufficient evidence to indicate that the veteran had
been exposed to a stressor capable of triggering the
disorder. However, the board didn’t tell the veteran what
further evidence the he needed to submit to provide the
board with enough evidence to make such a finding when it
denied the veteran disability benefits. The veteran appealed.
The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
reversed, finding that the board failed to provide the
veteran with the required notice. When the VA appealed, the
Federal Circuit held that under the Act, Congress did not
intend to exempt the department from the law’s requirements,
including the notice provision requiring the VA to inform
disability claimants of factual deficiencies in their
applications for disability benefits. The Federal Circuit
remanded the case to the Veterans Claims court for further
proceedings.
The full text of the decision can be found here: http://www.fedcir.gov/opinions/03-7072.doc
