Congenital Birth Defects and VA Disability | All You and your Family Need to Know

Leah explains how congenital birth defects intersect with VA disability benefits for both veterans and their children. She covers what congenital birth defects are, the conditions linked to toxic exposures like Agent Orange in Vietnam and Korea or contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, and when children may qualify for compensation or health benefits. Leah also highlights that veterans with congenital conditions can sometimes receive service connection if their condition was permanently aggravated by military service. She stresses the importance of strong medical evidence, proper documentation, and accredited representation, while warning against common mistakes such as assuming automatic approval or overlooking proof of service and biological parentage. 

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At Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting, a veteran-owned company, we specialize in Independent Medical Opinions (IMOs) known as Nexus letters.

The purpose of this channel is to empower YOU, the veteran, to take charge of your medical evidence and provide you with valuable educational tools and research to guide you on your journey. 

Understanding the unique challenges veterans face our commitment lies in delivering exceptional service and support.
Leveraging an extensive network of licensed independent medical professionals, all well-versed in the medical professional aspects of the VA claims process, we review the necessary medical evidence to incorporate in our reports related to your VA Disability Claim. 

Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting is not a law firm, accredited claims agent, or affiliated with the Veterans Administration or Veterans Services Organizations. However, we are happy to discuss your case with your accredited VA legal professional.

⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This video is not medical or legal advice and should not be substituted for advisement from your VSO, accredited agent, or Attorney.

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Episode Transcript

Leah bucholz (00:06):
Hey guys, it's Leah B from Prestige Veteran
Medical Consulting. I am a U. S.Army veteran, physician
assistant, and formercompensation and pension
examiner. So welcome back to ourchannel where we unpack VA
disability benefits so that youcan file and support your claims
with stronger medical evidence,protect your rights and get the
support you deserve.
I am Leah Buchholz and todaywe're going to take a deep look

(00:28):
at a topic that affects veteransand their children and that is
congenital birth defects and VAdisability compensation. So this
episode can be especiallyimportant if you are a veteran
and you have a biological childwho was born with a serious
defect, you served in areas withtoxic exposures like Camp
Lejeune or Vietnam, or youyourself were born with a

(00:50):
condition that got worse duringservice. So here's what we're
going to cover today. So whatare congenital birth defects?
When VA compensates childrenwith birth defects like Vietnam,
Korea, Camp Lejeune, etc.
Key exposures linked to theseconditions and veterans who have
congenital conditions that wereworsened or aggravated by their

(01:14):
military service. So importantthings to consider when you're
filing a claim or appealingthese with the help of your
accredited representative andcommon mistakes and successful
tips that can help you supportyour claim from a medical
perspective. So what arecongenital birth defects? So
congenital birth defects aremedical conditions that exist at

(01:35):
or before birth. They can affecthow the body or the brain
develops and range from mild toseverely disabling.
Some examples include thingslike spina bifida, congenital
heart defects, limb deformities,cognitive and developmental
disabilities, neural tube orcraniofacial defects. Many are

(01:56):
genetic but some result fromtoxic exposures during pregnancy
and that's where the VA'sresponsibility comes in for both
children and veterans themselveswho are affected. So children of
Vietnam and Korea veterans thathave been exposed to Agent
Orange. So let's start with somethis well established category.
If you served in Vietnam between'62 and 1975 or in certain parts

(02:20):
of Korea between 1967 and '71,you may have been exposed to
Agent Orange, a toxic herbicideknown to cause serious long term
health effects.
There's also several othercategories of veterans that have
been exposed to Agent Orange.Va.gov has a very well
prescribed like outline of youknow different air bases or
different locations or differentequipment that was handled by

(02:43):
you know a variety of veterans.I definitely urge you to check
that out. If your biologicalchild was later born with
certain defects the VA maycompensate them directly. So
what can be covered?
For male veterans only spinabifida except for spina bifida
occulta. For female Vietnamveterans the VA recognizes a

(03:03):
broader list of severecongenital defects excluding
those caused by family disordersor birth trauma. Benefits may
include things like monthlymonetary compensation to the
child, health care coverage,vocational training in some
cases. These benefits go to thechild not to the veteran
themselves and claims can befiled by the child if they're of

(03:26):
age. So for Camp Lejeune watercontamination, so this is a big
one.
A lot of info came out on thePACT Act last year about Camp
Lejeune. Between 1953 and 1987drinking water at Camp Lejeune
was contaminated with cancercausing chemicals like TCE, PCE,
and benzene. Veterans stationedthere and their families were

(03:48):
exposed. If your child wasconceived while you were
stationed at Camp Lejeune andborn with a qualifying
condition, they may be eligiblefor VA health care benefits.
Conditions include things likebirth defects, leukemia or other
childhood cancers, neurologicdisorders.
Unlike the Agent Orange program,the Lejeune related claims don't

(04:09):
offer monetary compensation tochildren but they do cover
medical treatment costs. Soveterans can also be service
connected for congenitalconditions that are aggravation
based. So here's something mostveterans don't really realize
that if you had that congenitalyou may not have even known that
you had a congenital birthdefect until you were in service

(04:31):
or after service and your timein service could have made it
worse. You may be able to get itservice connected on an
aggravational basis. So the VAusually won't service connect
congenital defects directly butunder the law if military
service permanently aggravated acongenital or hereditary
condition you can receivecompensation in some cases.
So some real world examples ifyou were born with mild

(04:53):
scoliosis but years of carryingrucksacks and PT airborne
injuries things like that madeit painful or made it worse or
progressive beyond its naturalprogression. You also could have
something like a congenital hipdeformity, but military stress
caused a permanent worsening.You were born with a heart valve

(05:14):
issue but combat or chemicalexposure accelerated the cardiac
symptoms. The key word here isthat permanent aggravation and
you'll need a medical opinionsaying that your service made
the condition worse beyond itsnatural progression. You can ask
your treating doctor, yourcardiologist if it's a heart
issue, your family practicedoctor, PA, whoever, or you can

(05:34):
just rely on that C and P examthat compensation and pension
examiner at the VA may provide apositive opinion as well.
So what does the research say?So medical literature supports
the link between toxic exposuresand congenital defects and the
law also reflects that. So VAand legal precedents, the VA
presumes exposure to AgentOrange if you served in Vietnam

(05:57):
or any of those locationsrelated to Agent Orange exposure
on va.gov like we mentionedduring eligible times. The
presumption of soundness meansthat if a congenital issue
wasn't noted at entry the VA hasto prove that it wasn't worsened
by service. So Camp Lejeunehealth claims are supported by
scientific studies linkingchemical exposures to birth

(06:19):
defects.
Medical articles also back thisup. For example, children of
exposed veterans have higherrates of neural tube defects.
TCE and benzene exposure duringpregnancy have been linked to
heart and brain defects. Overuseinjuries in military service can
accelerate congenital joint orspinal problems. So when you're

(06:41):
filing a claim, va.gov does agreat job of showing you how to
do this.
They've got a lot of great helpdocs or you can use a BSO or if
it's an appeal maybe aaccredited claims agent or an
attorney can assist you withthis as well if struggle with
that. So some things that canhelp support you is if it's for
your child you will you may needto prove that your service in

(07:02):
Vietnam, Korea, or Camp Lejeuneor whatever, you need to prove
that. So your DD214 or otherservice related documents can
help you support that. Birthrecords, medical documentation.
So there's different forms thatcan be used like the VA Form
ten-ten 68 for Camp Lejeunehealth benefits, any scientific

(07:24):
literature, nexus letters if youhave them, or VA FAST letters
that support your case.
If you're looking at anaggravation of your own
congenital condition, they maywant to look at that pre service
diagnosis or documentation ifyou have any evidence of in
service aggravation, training,deployments, physical duties.
That nexus is going to beimportant whether it's from the

(07:45):
VA or from your treating doctorthat shows that it's at least as
likely as not that the militaryservice aggravated your
condition beyond its naturalprogression. So let's go over a
few things that I see commonlythat are sort of mistakes. So
don't just assume that a claimis gonna be approved because
your child has a disability. TheVA is very specific about

(08:05):
qualifying service periods andconditions.
Don't forget to prove biologicalparentage for your kid. Don't
let a pre existing diagnosisscare you off. Aggravation based
claims are legally valid in manycases and you should work with a
VSO or an accredited rep to helpyou if you need help. Use
supporting studies and legalprecedents to back up your claim

(08:28):
as necessary and if you've beendenied consider filing a
supplemental claim higher levelreview or whatever in accordance
with the VA's policiesregulations and guidelines. And
again if that's something that'sdaunting to you there's an
accreditation search tool onva.gov where you can find
somebody that can assist youwith this that has training and

(08:49):
education.
So congenital birth defectswhether in veterans or their
children can be physically andemotionally just devastating.
But there are real options ofsupport for you guys out there
and those conditions candefinitely be tied to military
service in many circumstances.If your child has spina bifida
and you served in Vietnam, youcertainly can apply. If you

(09:11):
served at Camp Lejeune and yourchild has neurologic conditions
and if your own congenitalcondition was worsened then you
know don't just stand by youknow get the benefits that you
deserve and that you're entitledto. I hope this was helpful to
you guys please like andsubscribe if any of you guys
have had experience with thislet me know I'd love to hear

(09:32):
your stories and as always thankyou for See you later!