Medical Inquiry Leads to Additional Award

A Massachusetts Army combat veteran who served in Vietnam started feeling unwell shortly after retiring in 2022. He found out that he had cancer and visited the Bilingual Veterans Outreach Center in Springfield, Mass., for help in filing a claim for multiple myeloma. 

Veteran service officers (VSOs) at the center asked the veteran to bring the appropriate medical documents to verify the diagnosis and submit the evidence with his claim. They also gave him a list of conditions presumptive for Agent Orange exposure and asked him to ask his doctor if he might have additional conditions such as prostate cancer and ischemic heart disease. 

A couple of weeks later, the veteran called on his way to a chemotherapy appointment. He had apparently passed out in the parking lot of Baystate Medical Center, and after being rushed to the emergency room and recieving additional testing, he had been diagnosed with ischemic heart disease. 

Later that summer, the veteran and his wife delivered the medical documents necessary to file claims for cancer and heart disease. The claim was filed in September; following review, the veteran was approved at 100% for cancer and 100% for heart disease in February 2023. He has 100% total and permanent disability and received $21,000 in retroactive payments.

Contact a VVA Veteran Service Officer to assist with your claim in states that have a benefits program here, or search for a VSO from another organization through the VA’s website in states where we do not. Enter your ZIP code or city and state, and you’ll see which VSOs serve your area.