PSP?

Question:

I am new at this PSP disease and Most of the mail I am reading in your mail bag is years old or maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Is PSP presently listed as something that is worth filing a claim for. I was just diagnosed with it Oct 2022 and am seeing my representative who files my claims for me. She can not find any claim forms at the VA that she can file for this disease. I served in Vietnam in 66-67 as a crew chief/door gunner on a Huey helicopter and of course we flew support for the aircraft that was spraying this stuff and we followed up a few days later with troop support search and destroy missions in that same area. I am presently seeing a neurologist and he said this disease was definitely PSP and I should file a claim for it. How many others from my era or the war in Vietnam have been shown to have a correlation to PSP and Vietnam? I am not presently looking for an attorney to help with my case yet and do have on available thru my group support leader that I see on a weekly basis for PTSD . Any help is appreciated.

 

Jim's Reply:

The first thing to know is that Progressive Supranuclear Palsy is not the same as Parkinson's disease. While Parkinson's is widely recognized as being caused or contributed to by many factors, less is known about the cause of PSP.
 

I can't account for your representative's not understanding how to file a claim for the disease since the claim would be filed just as any other claim would. The disease is very well known to the VBA claims system as we can see in the BVA decision search results here. If you'll click through that link you'll find many BVA appeals that will tell you a lot about service connection for the condition.


Those are all important to you as you think of filing your own claims...read and learn! The more time you spend reading the results of what others have done, the better your chances are.
 

You can't ask for an attorney to help you yet...the VA won't allow that. You have to be seeking an appeal of a denied claim before you can retain a veterans law attorney to help you. However, since you tell me that your current "representative" isn't able to figure out how to file a perfectly reasonable claim for you, you may want to think about finding another way to get your VA claims in order.
 

I like the DIY method where we file the claim and don't depend on these "VA reps" so much.
 

Good luck sir.