Review of Veterans Affairs Office Reveals that 1 in 6 TBI Claims are Improperly Handled

Review of Veterans Affairs Office Reveals that 1 in 6 TBI Claims are Improperly Handled

According to an April 30th, 2017 report that ran in the Boston Herald, the regional VA office in Massachusetts has been systematically mishandling veteran brain injury cases. Indeed, an investigation indicates that the office has incorrectly processed one in every six veteran traumatic brain injury claims. This is incredibly disheartening, and it shows that the VA is still a long way from being past the scandals that hit the agency in 2014. All brain injury cases must be taken seriously. Brain injury victims, particularly those who sustained their injury protecting our country, deserve their full and fair disability benefits.

The Results of the 2015 Inspection

The recently released inspection of the Boston VA regional field office covered the year 2015. During that time, the office processed nearly 17 percent of all TBI cases incorrectly. There were a wide variety of different errors made by the representatives at the office, including repeatedly miscalculating the disability benefits owed to several injured veterans. Notably, and perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of these errors were not in the favor of disabled veterans.

As an example, in one case that was highlighted in the report, one former Iraq war veteran who had a very serious TBI, had his condition rated as ‘70 percent’ disabling. Upon review, investigators determined that the appropriate rating should have been ‘100 percent’. This is a very large and completely unacceptable error for the VA to make. To put this error into perspective, the veteran in question was underpaid by more than $31,000 over a two-year period as a result of this VA error.

The Boston VA Office is Not an Outlier

We have seen many different problems with VA regional offices all around the U.S. over the past several years. There is no reason to believe that the Boston field office is an outlier. You or your loved one may run into a similar problem at the Chicago Regional Benefit Office. The bottom line is clear: veterans deserve their full and fair benefits. Sadly many errors are made, and internal inspections rarely are sufficient to find these errors. If your veterans disability claim has been denied, or you believe that your disability rating is incorrect, please get in touch with a qualified attorney today who can assess your case and help you take corrective action.

Contact Our Chicago Veterans Benefits Attorneys Today

At the Comerford Law Office, LLC, our team proudly support veterans and their families. If you are having any problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs, we can help. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us today at (312) 863-8572 to schedule a free review of your case. We represent veterans in communities throughout Northern Illinois, including in Evanston, Oak Park and Oak Lawn.