Question:
Sir, I was awarded a 10% disability for cancer in upon retiring in 2010. I am undergoing treatment for that same cancer now. I have undergone neck surgery and will be undergoing radioactive iodine treatment shortly. I put in a VA claim for upgrading my disability and received notice that the rating will be increased to 40%. My understanding was that a cancer diagnosis was awarded at 100% until the cancer is in remission? Any help would be great. Thank you.
Jim's Reply:
The VA has made an error it appears. You're correct, if you have an active service connected cancer you should be rated at 100%.
You have no choice but to submit a formal appeal and tell VA that they made a mistake. Calling VA to talk about it won't help, the only way to correct this is for you to appeal by filing the papers.
Mistakes in ratings for service connected cancers are so frequently out of line with the regulations that it makes me wonder if many raters don't just throw a dart at at the schedule to pick a percent. In any case, get busy and file the appeal. Good luck.