The Veterans Administration recently added new presumptive conditions for Gulf War and Post 9/11 Veterans including the following:
- Acute and chronic leukemia
- Multiple myeloma
- Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS)
- Myelofibrosis
- Urinary bladder, ureter, and related genitourinary cancers
As published on the VA.gov, the eligible veterans include the following:
Gulf War Veterans: Veterans who served in Somalia or the Southwest Asia theater of operations (which includes Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the neutral zone between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the airspace above these locations) during the Persian Gulf War on or after August 2, 1990.
Post-9/11 Veterans: Veterans who served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, or Uzbekistan and the airspace above these locations during the Gulf War on or after September 11, 2001. This includes Veterans who served at the Karshi-Khanabad (K2) base in Uzbekistan after September 11, 2001.
In general, presumptive service-connection is defined as an automatic grant of disability compensation benefits to veterans for certain condition without requiring them to prove that the disability was incurred in or caused by any event, injury, or otherwise during their military service.
The presumptions for urinary bladder, ureter, and related genitourinary cancers went into effect January 2, 2025, and the presumptions for acute and chronic leukemias, multiple myelomas, and myelodysplastic syndromes, myelofibrosis will be effective January 10, 2025.
Successfully filing with the VA requires great attention to detail and the right representation. To build a compelling claim, Veterans should seek credible and experienced legal representation. If you need assistance with filing an application for disability compensation benefits, we encourage you to contact Wolf & Brown for a free consultation.