CAN SMOKING AFFECT A VA DISABILITY CLAIM?
Veterans who smoke can have a non-presumptive disability claim denied because of tobacco use. by Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org I recently received the following email from an attorney who practices veterans’ law. It is self-explanatory … I work with many vets appealing denials of VA benefits claims. In many cases, the vet has gathered many of the documents that I need to review in order to prepare whatever document needs to be filed. As it can take a long time to get the “official” records, I routinely ask the veteran to send me whatever he or she has. Holy smoke (literally). I am astounded at the number of times (the vast majority of my cases) the documents arrive reeking of cigarette smoke. I do not mean smell like smoke, I mean turn away, close the envelop / box, take into another room, tears in your eyes, people walking by my office and comment on the stink reeking of smoke. Sometimes my fingers get sticky from the smoke residue on the pages while I am trying to read them with
