Veterans' psychiatric benefits: enter courts and attorneys.
L. F. Sparr, R. White, M. J. Friedman and D. B. Wiles,
Bull. Amer. Acad. Psychiatry & the Law
22(2): 205-22, 1994.
In 1988, the Veterans Judicial Review Act (VJRA) was signed into law, ending more than a century
of Congressional measures that kept veterans' benefits claims completely out of the appellate court
system. Before this new law, any decision made by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) about
a veteran's claim was final, and there was no recourse for independent judgment of an appeal. The
legislation modified the existing Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) to enhance its independence
from the Veterans' Administration and established a new Court of Veterans Appeals (CVA) with
jurisdiction to review BVA decisions. Veterans' benefits proceedings have not only been insulated
from the courts, they also have been undesirable to private attorneys, because since 1864 Congress
has prohibited attorneys from charging more than $10 to advocate a VA disability claim. The new
law allows attorneys to represent veterans before the CVA and receive appropriate remuneration. In
1991, the number of veterans was estimated at 26,897,000, and VA disability compensation
programs spent $9.6 billion. Currently, there are about 2,179,000 veterans receiving
service-connected monetary compensation; approximately 13.5 percent (293,200) have a primary
psychiatric disability. The CVA is a specialized Article I court that has seven justices and sits in
Washington, D.C. In its formative years, the Court has reached decisions that have had an impact
on the veterans' psychiatric benefits examination process. Now more than ever, non-VA psychiatrists
may be asked to offer probative opinions in veterans' benefits proceedings. The authors review VA
psychiatric disability procedures and, using case examples, discuss both precedent decisions
involving VA psychiatric claimants and the evolving standards of judicial review. [References: 96]