Vernon Hills Veterans Benefits Attorney

Vernon Hills Veterans Benefits Attorney

To learn more about whether you or a loved one qualify for veterans benefits, please contact one of the experienced members of our Vernon Hills veterans benefits legal team today.

Types of Injuries

A variety of different injuries qualify as disabilities under federal law, including:

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
• Traumatic brain injury (TBI);
• Hearing loss or tinnitus;
• Loss of a limb;
• Blindness;
• Cognitive impairments; and
• Mental illness.

Whatever the type of injury sustained by the veteran, it will be rated on a scale from 10 to 100 percent, with 100 percent representing total disability. The level of disability will determine how much the injured veteran is eligible to receive in benefits.

Service in Specific Wars

Veterans who served in specific wars will automatically receive disability benefits. For example, veterans who served in the Vietnam War between January 9, 1962 and May 7, 1975 are presumed to have suffered exposure to dangerous herbicides, such as Agent Orange. Currently, as many as eleven illnesses have been linked to exposure to these types of chemicals, including:

• Soft tissue sarcoma;
• Hodgkin’s disease;
• Multiple myeloma;
• Prostate cancer;
• Respiratory cancers;
• Type 2 diabetes;
• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia;
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma;
• Acute and subacute peripheral neuropathy;
• Chloracne; and
• Porphyria cutanea tarda.

Gulf War veterans are also at risk of suffering from chronic disabilities resulting from undiagnosed illnesses and chronic multi-symptom illnesses that have no medical explanation. In order to collect benefits, the injured veteran must demonstrate that the symptoms appeared during the Gulf War, or to at least 10 percent through December 2011.

Prisoners of War (POWs) who were imprisoned for any length of time during their military service are also automatically eligible for benefits if they suffer from psychosis, anxiety, residuals of frostbite, heart disease, stroke, post-traumatic osteoarthritis, or hypertensive vascular disease. In fact, any former POW who was imprisoned for more than 30 days is presumed to have suffered from certain illnesses, including but not limited to: malnutrition, cirrhosis of the liver, peptic ulcer disease, pellagra, chronic dysentery, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Finally, any veterans who participated in atomic tests and suffer from the following injuries will automatically qualify for benefits:

• Leukemia;
• Cancer of the stomach, pancreas, brain, bone, lung, liver, esophagus, breast, colon, or ovary;
• Bronchiole alveolar carcinoma;
• Multiple myeloma; and
• Lymphomas.

Many of these illnesses are life-threatening and require veterans to obtain around the clock nursing care. Fortunately, injured veterans can obtain aid and attendance benefits or housebound benefits in addition to their disability pensions to cover nursing home bills or the cost of obtaining nursing assistance in the home.

Call Today to Speak With a Vernon Hills Veterans Benefits Attorney

If you sustained an injury or illness while an active duty service member, please call The Comerford Law Office, LLC at 312-863-8572 to speak with a dedicated veterans benefits lawyer who can explain your legal options and help you begin the process of filing a claim.