VA Disability for Medication Side Effects | What Veterans Need to Know

Leah explains how veterans may qualify for VA disability compensation if they experience side effects from medications prescribed for service-connected conditions. She outlines what the VA recognizes under 38 CFR 3.310, provides real-world examples such as ulcers from NSAIDs, metabolic syndrome from antipsychotics, sexual dysfunction from SSRIs, and liver damage from anticonvulsants, and stresses the importance of proving secondary service connection with medical diagnoses, documentation, and nexus statements. Leah also highlights relevant medical literature, explains the potential for special monthly compensation or TDIU in severe cases, and warns about common pitfalls like failing to directly link symptoms to medications. 

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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. 

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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.

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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 (00:05):
Hey guys it's Leah B from Prestige Veteran Medical
Consulting. I am a U. Armyveteran, physician assistant,
and former compensation andpension examiner. So welcome
back to our channel where webreak down VA benefits in clear
actionable language. I'm Leahand today's episode tackles a
topic that is easy for veteransto miss but often has a big

(00:26):
impact and that's side effectsfrom prescribed medications or
just medications prescribed totreat your VA service connected
disabilities and how they canqualify you for a secondary VA
disability.
If you're taking medications fora secondary for a service
connected condition and thatmedication has caused a new
medical issue, you might beeligible for added compensation.

(00:49):
And here's what we're going tocover today. So what qualifies
as a VA recognized medicationside effect, examples of common
secondary conditions fromprescriptions, how to prove
secondary service connection inmany cases, medical literature
that supports these types ofcases, special monthly

(01:10):
compensation, and uncommon sideeffects, common pitfalls that I
see when I review medicalrecords. So let's just dive
right in. So what are VArecognized medication side
effects?
So under 38 CFR 3.31, the VArecognizes that disabilities
resulting from treatment of aservice connected condition

(01:32):
including prescribed medicationscan be compensable and that
means if a new condition iscaused or aggravated by your
treatment it may qualify as asecondary service connection. I
see this super frequently. Soreal examples of medication side
effects leading to claims. Sosome common examples include

(01:53):
scenarios like ulcers or GIbleeding from long term NSAID
use to manage back or jointpain. That's probably the most
common one that I personallysee.
Diabetes hypertension or obesityfrom antipsychotics or other
medications prescribed for PTSDor bipolar disorder sexual
dysfunction resulting fromthings like SSRIs or other types

(02:16):
of antidepressants liver damagecaused by anticonvulsant
medications, memory impairmentdue to prolonged use of sleep
aids. Another big one thatpeople don't think about is
different types of medicationsto treat hypertension can
actually cause or worsentinnitus or tinnitus. These

(02:37):
conditions can each be connectedback to a service connected
diagnosis if documentedproperly. So how can you prove
secondary service connection? Soa current medical diagnosis is
always going to be important forwhat that new condition is.
So evidence that your originalcondition is already service
connected or is related to yourservice. So you need to have a

(02:58):
nexus from a licensed providerstating that it is at least as
likely as not that the secondarycondition was caused or
aggravated by the medicationprescribed by a service
connected disability. So do youhave to get that from your
doctor or from, somebody likeme? No absolutely not. The VA
will provide a no cost exam foryou if there's enough evidence
to warrant an exam being orderedand you will have a C and P exam

(03:21):
and that examiner will providean opinion.
May not always be a favorableopinion but it might be if it's
pretty straightforward. You canalso ask your treating provider
and they may be willing provideyou an opinion even just a short
statement saying that theybelieve your ulcers are related
to your NSAID use or whatever.Supporting this with
prescriptions medical notes andside effect warnings may help

(03:44):
you support that case. So let'stalk about some medical
literature because I like to goover that quite quite often for
you guys. So let's back this upwith science.
Citing scholarly articles fromplaces like PubMed can help you
bring some credibility to yourcomplaint. So NSAIDs and GI
bleeding so uppergastrointestinal bleeding

(04:05):
associated with the use of nonsteroidal anti inflammatory
drugs newer versus older agentspublished in 2,004 documents
dose dependent GI bleeding risk.A case study non steroidal anti
inflammatory drugs andgastrointestinal bleeding from
the american journal of medicineis another one. Antipsychotics

(04:25):
and metabolic syndrome.Antipsychotic induced metabolic
syndrome a review from Pharmacopsychiatry in 2023 estimates
that thirty seven to sixty threepercent of users develop
metabolic syndrome.
National trends and metabolicrisk of psychiatric inpatients
during the atypicalantipsychotic era and

(04:47):
schizophrenia research publishedin 2022. Another article
predictors of metabolicmonitoring with second
generation antipsychotic use inthe veterans health
administration bmc psychiatry in2009 focused on veterans. Big
one here is SSRIs and sexualdysfunction so sexual

(05:10):
dysfunction associated withantidepressants from the journal
of clinical psychiatry notesthat up to sixty percent of SSRI
users experience sexual sideeffects. Anti convulsants and
liver toxicity The FDA and theAmerican Epilepsy Society
materials acknowledge that manyof these medications like
valproate related tohepatotoxicity that was a

(05:38):
mouthful or liver toxicity rightthat's what we mean by
hepatotoxicity and cognitiverisks. So z drugs and cognitive
decline so zolpidem andcognitive function a review
sleep medicine reviews twentyeleven links this use with
memory impairment.
When you file your claim youwant to definitely discuss this

(06:00):
with an accredited vs with a vsoor an accredited claims agent or
an attorney if you needassistance. Va.gov also has
really good help docs on how tofile your claims. They try to
make it pretty easy and userfriendly for veterans which I
think is great, the actualfiling process. So you may want
to include brief summaries orcitations of your articles when

(06:21):
you see your doctor and ask themto support your case. So also
special monthly compensation sothis is a big one, special
monthly compensation and severeside effects.
So some side effects may qualifyyou for SMC or TDIU so
unemployability payments beyondthe standard VA rating. SSRI

(06:44):
induced impotence may qualifyyou for special monthly
compensation K which is loss ofuse of a creative organ. So
chronic liver or kidney damagefrom medications could qualify
you from aid and attendance orSMCL. Medication caused
unemployability may qualify forTDIU or total disability
individual unemployability. Ifyour side effects make it

(07:07):
difficult or impossible to workor care for yourself you may
explore these additional benefitroutes.
So what are some common pitfallsthat I see when, I review cases?
So failing to link your symptomsspecifically to a medication,
not including, you know anyrelevant records from your
doctor, assuming that out ofrange lab results or conditions

(07:29):
like ulcers are just part ofaging, Document everything
prescription progress notes,doctor observations, those
PubMed articles can be helpful.Work with a vso or accredited
rep especially for complex sideeffect scenarios. So medications
can be life saving but they canalso create new health problems.

(07:49):
If you've been harmed by some ofthe medications you're using to
treat your service connecteddisabilities don't just dismiss
it and you may actually beeligible for these additional
benefits, right?
Additional secondary serviceconnections or some of those
special monthly compensations orwhatnot. So I hope this was
helpful to you guys. Please dropsome comments. I've got some
great videos on NSAIDs and GIdisorders, also some sexual

(08:12):
dysfunction videos for femalesexual arousal disorder or
erectile dysfunction. Pleasedrop some comments and as always
thank you for watching.
Right see you.