Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program: Name Change

by Tbird | May 19, 2021 | VA Disability

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) proposes to amend the regulations pertaining to the name of the Chapter 31 Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program. VA provides benefits and services under the program name of “Vocational Rehabilitation and...

Adopting Standards for Laboratory Requirements

by WPTangerine | May 6, 2021 | VA Disability

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) adopts as final, with changes, a proposed rule amending its medical regulations to establish standards for VA clinical laboratories. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has established standards for the staffing,...

Kisor v. McDonough, No. 2016-1929 (OPINION ISSUED: August 12, 2020, OPINION MODIFIED: April 30, 2021); Supreme Court stated that “[f]irst and foremost, a court should not afford Auer deference unless the regulation is genuinely ambiguous; in the context of § 3.156(c)(1), the term “relevant” has only “one reasonable meaning,” …, in order to be “relevant,” a record must speak to a matter in issue, in other words, a matter in dispute; we conclude the term “relevant” has only one reasonable meaning in the context of § 3.156(c)(1): the “relevant” service records must, in the sense we have explained, speak to a matter in issue, in other words, a matter in dispute;

by WPTangerine | Apr 30, 2021 | VA Law

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit JAMES L. KISOR, Claimant-Appellant v. DENIS MCDONOUGH, SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, Respondent-Appellee 2016-1929 Appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in No. 14-2811, Senior Judge...

Straw v. Wilkie, No. 18-7129 (Decided June 26, 2020); Care for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-154, 126 Stat. 1165 (codified in scattered sections of 38 U.S.C.); “resided at Camp Lejeune”; 38 U.S.C. § 1710(e)(1)(F); “Health care of family members of veterans stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina,”;

by Tbird | Jun 27, 2020 | VA Law

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR VETERANS CLAIMSNo. 18-7129ANDREW U.D. STRAW, APPELLANT,V.ROBERT L. WILKIE,SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS, APPELLEE.On Appeal from the Board of Veterans’ Appeals(Decided June 26, 2020)Andrew U.D. Straw, pro se.William A. Hudson,...

Presumption of Herbicide Exposure and Presumption of Disability During Service for Reservists Presumed Exposed to Herbicides

by WPTangerine | Oct 22, 2018 | VA Disability

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is adopting as final an interim final rule published on June 19, 2015, to amend its adjudication regulation governing individuals presumed to have been exposed to certain herbicides. Specifically, VA expanded the regulation to...