Question:

What reason's would Viet Nam veterans with prostate be denied benefits? My husband recently diagnosed in November 2018 with Gleason 8 prostate. He went to C & P exam yesterday and was asked only about ED. The doctor never mentioned prostate cancer and acted surprised when he told her that was DX. He said the exam was strange and he feels an appeal is likely.

Jim's Reply:

I have a suspicion that there was some miscommunication during the exam. It's a foregone conclusion that he has cancer...that's in the records and there isn't much to talk about. The issue of ED is to determine whether he's eligible for the SMC-k benefit -- an additional amount of money that he gets if the ED is secondary to the cancer. I'm pretty confident that he'll have the benefit soon.