VA Provides Service-Related Classification Of Benefits For Veterans With ALS

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced new regulations that provide lifetime access to health and disability benefits for veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also widely known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The measure serves as acknowledgement of a general link between ALS and military service. These benefits are available to all veterans without regard to when or where they served.

Service-related benefits were offered to Gulf War veterans back in 2001 after researchers examined what is known as Gulf War Syndrome, a collection of conditions such as muscle weakness, slurred speech and memory loss. Several studies showed an ALS diagnosis rate among returning veterans to be almost double that of civilians.

Further evidence of ALS having a connection to military service in the Gulf was found in the fact that although the disease normally affects people over the age of 50, approximately 98 percent of Gulf War veterans are under the age of 45. Most recently, in 2005, a group of Harvard researchers found that within the last century, men with a military service history have about a 60 percent greater risk of developing the disease.

Researchers have not yet discovered why ALS occurs more often in veterans. However, they are exploring theories such as trauma, exposure to toxins, intense physical activity and vaccinations.

In a news release, secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake said, “Veterans are developing ALS in rates higher than the general population and it was appropriate to take action.” He went on to explain, “ALS is a disease that progresses rapidly, once it is diagnosed. There simply isn't time to develop the evidence needed to support compensation claims before many veterans become seriously ill. My decision will make those claims much easier to process, and for them and their families to receive the compensation they have earned through their service to our nation.”

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord, as defined by the ALS Association. Motor neurons reach from the brain to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body. As these neurons deteriorate over time, patients lose their ability to move, talk and finally, to breathe.

ALS is not a common disease. The ALS association estimates that two out of every 100,000 people fall victim to the disease and that an estimated 5,600 people are diagnosed with the condition annually. The cause of ALS remains unknown. Although the disease was first recognized in 1869, there is still no cure, no known measures for prevention, or even effective treatment methods available. Once diagnosed with ALS, a patient has a projected average life expectancy of only two to five years.

ALS also causes families and victims extreme financial strain. The cost of medical equipment, continuous care as well as other needs can meet or exceed $200,000 a year in the late stages of the disease. According Tom Pamperin, deputy director of the compensation and pension service at VA, the agency projects 416 new cases of ALS among veterans in 2009 with a total of approximately 700 veterans qualifying for benefits annually. The costs of disability and death benefits are estimated at about $23 million in 2009 with totals reaching $505,839,000 over 10 years.