Monday Moment: Supporting a Disabled Marine
#MondayMoment. 🌟 We are honored to stand beside those who served our country. After decades of frustration, this Marine finally received the benefits he earned.
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CLE – Advising Veteran Clients on Available Benefits
Erika Dowd will present a CLE for Allegheny County Bar Members on Wednesday, May 14th entitled Advising Veteran Clients on Available Benefits. For more information or to register, visit the ACBA website. If you’re a veteran with questions about eligibility or claims, our attorneys can help you pursue veterans disability benefits.
Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act Passed
By Michael V. Quatrini, Esquire and Erika N. Dowd, Esq. The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act was signed into law by President Biden on January 2, 2025. The new law contains more than 90 sections, making improvements to veterans’ long-term care, caregiver programs, mental health resources, education, job training…
VA Makes number of cancers presumptive for service connection for Gulf War and Post-9/11 Veterans
By Michael V. Quatrini, Esquire The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has determined that certain cancers will be assumed to have a service-related connection for Gulf War and Post-9/11 veterans. This lowers the burden of proof for veterans to receive benefits and gives them access to free health care for their condition. The list of…
Erika Dowd achieves a 100% disability rating for Veteran Client
For the Win Friday After a veteran fought for 30 years to obtain a 50% disability rating form the VA for his physical conditions, Attorney Erika Dowd successfully secured service connections for his mental health conditions. Within less than five months of initially filing the claim, she achieved a 100% permanent and total rating for…
New Veterans’ Conditions and Claims approved in the 2022 PACT Act
With the passage of the Honoring our PACT Act in August 2022, Veterans Affairs has added new presumptive conditions which qualify individuals for Disability Compensation and will allow both service members and civilians harmed by exposure to Camp Lejeune water contamination to seek compensation. Camp Lejeune With the passage of the Camp Lejeune Justice…
VA faces problems as it attempts to modernize record keeping
The Department of Veterans Affairs decided in 2018 to modernize the health record system of the country’s largest hospital network. Under the best possible circumstances, this would increase efficiency and speed of care for the nine million veterans it served by 1,500 hospitals and clinics. It is a highly complex rollout scheduled to take ten…
Historic Legislation Could Usher in a New Era for the VA
In a rare bipartisan move, Congress passed a major veteran omnibus package that featured a “crown jewel.” The Johnny Isakson and David P Roe Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act will provide additional pandemic aid to Native, homeless, and women veterans. Within the package is another piece of legislation that represents the most comprehensive…
Agent Orange Benefits Extended to More Vietnam Veterans
After years of waiting, the Veteran’s Administration has finally extended Agent Orange presumption to thousands of “Blue Water” veterans. “Blue Water” veterans are defined as individuals who served on a U.S. Military vessel that served within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Vietnam between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975. Previously, only “Brown Water” veterans…
QR Results: Veteran Awarded Service Connection for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by Board of Veterans Appeals
QR is pleased to announce that our appeal to the Board of Veterans Appeals for an Army veteran with service in Vietnam resulted in a reversal of the initial Ratings Determination by the Department of Veterans Affairs (Pittsburgh Regional Office) and a full grant of service connection for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Learn more about how…