Noteboom The Law Firm

Veteran Lobbying VA To Recognize Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy As A Disability

December 1, 2010 - Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) is a very painful, and very hard to diagnose neurological disorder. It is also not recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) as the type of disability deserving VA funded treatment and compensation. While not a well known disorder, there are anywhere from 200,000 to 1.2 million Americans currently suffering from RSD.

RSD impinges on the central nervous system. Not only is it very painful, suffers have described it as "maddening." Take, for example, a broken leg. Someone who breaks their leg and then develops RSD is not going to heal as he or she should. This is because the broken leg continually sends signals to the patient's brain telling it that the leg is still broken. This can result in the body actually developing symptoms of a broken leg as the brain believes it should.

Colonel Doug Strand suffers from RSD and is doing everything he can to lobby the VA to add RSD to its list of recognized disabilities in their rating system. Strand would consider it a severe understatement to say he had a difficult time maneuvering through the VA health care system as he tried to get help for his, at the time, unexplainable condition.

Strand testified last month in front of the Advisory Committee on Disability Evaluation. This committee's purpose is to make recommendations to the VA's disability rating system. He left the hearing with at least some hope. The Chairman called for the VA to perform a study establishing basic rules governing the disorder when it is added to the VA's ratings system.