VA Benefits: How to Establish Service-Connection by Secondary Connection.
This is the fifth post in a series: “Five Ways to Establish Service-Connection” for a disease, injury or other medical condition that is used as the basis of a veteran’s claim for VA benefits. You can read the first entry by clicking here. You can read the second entry by clicking here. You can read the third entry by clicking here. You can read the fourth entry by clicking here.
This post - indeed, any post on this website - is not legal advice, is not meant to be legal advice, and certainly does not serve as a substitute for legal advice. Information is power, and we are providing this information to give you, the veteran, some power. This information is not widely or easily accessible to Veterans. It is best to consult with a lawyer familiar with VA Disability claims and benefits or a Veterans Service Organization to examine your particular case.
This post will discuss the fourth way to establish service-connection: “Service Connection by Secondary Connection.” This type of service connection occurs when any disability or injury you have is the result of another service-connected disability or injury. It can occur when a service-connected condition causes a new disability or merely makes a pre-existing or non-service connected disability worse. Your compensation will only be to the increase in the second disability by the original service-connected disability.
You will not succeed in this type of claim without sufficient medical evidence. The standard is to produce sufficient medical evidence to show that it is as likely as not that the second condition was caused or aggravated by the first condition. To establish this to the satisfaction of the VA, you will most certainly need at least one medical expert opinion.
As anyone who has dealt with doctors knows, opinions can vary from doctor to doctor. That is why it is a good tactic to not really on the expert opinion of the VA Physician. It is highly recommended that you consult with a private medical expert to establish the required proof.
Here are some examples of secondary connection:
Scenario 1: As a result of a combat injury, you are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or any other mental health condition. Is this a secondary connection?
Answer: Probably. You will need a psychiatrist to provide a written expert opinion to the VA that connects the PTSD to the service-connected injury. Read more about PTSD claims in our VA Benefits blog by clicking here.
Scenario 2: (This general scenario appears in the Veterans’ Benefits Manual, page 132.) A veteran has a 30% rating for a service-connected knee injury. As a result of that injury, the veteran now complains of chronic back-pain and walks with a limp. Is the low-back pain and limp a secondary connection?
Answer: It depends. If you have an opinion from a private medical expert, you may be able to establish that the second injury, the low back pain, is connected to the original knee problem. This is a tougher claim, because there are many causes for low back-pain.
You need not provide clear and convincing evidence that the secondary condition is connected to the prior service-connected disability or that the prior service-connected disability is the sole cause for the second condition. The VA is supposed to give the Veteran the benefit of the doubt. This is why it is extremely helpful to have a private medical expert opinion before the VA examination.
If your claim for VA benefits will be based on service-connection by secondary connection, or if you are not sure whether your second injury can be service-connected, or if your claim for an increase in benefits due to a secondary condition is denied, a Veteran Service Organization or a VA Benefits lawyer should be able to help you determine if the legal presumptions apply to your situation.If you would like to consult with legal counsel regarding your VA disability compensation or other VA benefits claim, contact a VA Benefits attorney at the Attig Law Firm to set up a free 30 minute consult. You can, of course, also contact any one of the many Veteran Service Organizations who may also be able to assist you.
