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So I have had talks with others about VA disabilities and some I thought were joking that the VA pays 10% disability for STDs. I did some research and sure enough you are eligible for VA disabilities for STDs. And it is not limited only to those who contracted it through rape or similiar situations.
One law firm states:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will not grant disability compensation or pension to a veteran for an injury or illness that was the result of willful misconduct, even if the veteran meets the other basic eligibility requirementsfor veterans benefits. Likewise, if a veteran's death is found to be the result of willful misconduct, the surviving family will not be able to obtain disability and indemnity compensation (DIC).
Willful misconduct that causes a disability also prohibits eligibility for vocational rehabilitation benefits. However, if a veteran has another service-connected disability that was not caused by willful misconduct, the veteran may be eligible for compensation or pension as well as educational and vocational benefits based on that service-connected disability.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Getting a venereal disease or STD, or the disabilities resulting from it, does not constitute willful misconduct under VA regulations. This is true even if the military found that the venereal disease resulted from willful misconduct. Consequently, a veteran can obtain service-connected disability compensation for these disabilities.
This was also in the news:
http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/health/article/Vets-with-STDs-getting-disability-payments-1236052.php
What do you think? I think we can all agree that if the service member was raped that this one thing and should be covered. If a service member contracted a STD when it was their decision to have sexual relations or through other methods such as sharing needles should they receive disability?
One law firm states:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will not grant disability compensation or pension to a veteran for an injury or illness that was the result of willful misconduct, even if the veteran meets the other basic eligibility requirementsfor veterans benefits. Likewise, if a veteran's death is found to be the result of willful misconduct, the surviving family will not be able to obtain disability and indemnity compensation (DIC).
Willful misconduct that causes a disability also prohibits eligibility for vocational rehabilitation benefits. However, if a veteran has another service-connected disability that was not caused by willful misconduct, the veteran may be eligible for compensation or pension as well as educational and vocational benefits based on that service-connected disability.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs)
Getting a venereal disease or STD, or the disabilities resulting from it, does not constitute willful misconduct under VA regulations. This is true even if the military found that the venereal disease resulted from willful misconduct. Consequently, a veteran can obtain service-connected disability compensation for these disabilities.
This was also in the news:
http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/health/article/Vets-with-STDs-getting-disability-payments-1236052.php
What do you think? I think we can all agree that if the service member was raped that this one thing and should be covered. If a service member contracted a STD when it was their decision to have sexual relations or through other methods such as sharing needles should they receive disability?
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 26
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Oh well, this is something I had never thought about.
So, as a vet, I can march into a VA hospital (**edit, I'm not a guy) and say my penis is falling off because I had sex with a hooker back in the day?
Alternatively, as a female, I can blame my blistering, oozing crotch-rot on a drunken quickie and get PAID? (Not that this is my personal case, I just wanted to throw out that mental image.)
This is setting a precedence, I think.
So, as a vet, I can march into a VA hospital (**edit, I'm not a guy) and say my penis is falling off because I had sex with a hooker back in the day?
Alternatively, as a female, I can blame my blistering, oozing crotch-rot on a drunken quickie and get PAID? (Not that this is my personal case, I just wanted to throw out that mental image.)
This is setting a precedence, I think.
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SSG Maurice P.
damn dude did you see that stuff on that guys face shit...........................i just quit messin with hookers....................Not i haven't messed around in a long time hehehehehehe
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SSG Maurice P.
No shit that was beyond horrible... I love being inside a female more than anything else in life's pleasures it is the closest,
i will ever get to heaven and if god made anything better he kept it for himself...but after seeing that guy with the blue waffle i might have nightmares but i cant quit sex damn hehehehehehehehehehe
i will ever get to heaven and if god made anything better he kept it for himself...but after seeing that guy with the blue waffle i might have nightmares but i cant quit sex damn hehehehehehehehehehe
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I know this is gonna be ugly...but here goes. The VA is not going to rate you for a disability just cuz you got the clap. NOT gonna happen, especially if you are treated and cured properly. It becomes a blip on the radar that is never seen again. However, if the STD becomes an issue that will not go away and requires constant medical attention...just like a broken bone that won't heal or any other wound that won't or can't go back to original form and function. THEN you have an aggravated issue that can be addressed in the same fashion as any other medical condition a veteran has.
Stop with the judgements. It's not on you to judge. I know a guy that reported to the medical department more than a dozen times over the years...STD after STD. Navy thinking of admin separation. Turns out the guys wife just couldn't leave Jody alone - I'm sure all you ARMY guys know Jody right?.....
It's not rape...he's not dipping somewhere he shouldn't....so YOU gonna drop judgement on him?......Methinks you go too far in the making judgements on things that are none of your damned business.
Stop with the judgements. It's not on you to judge. I know a guy that reported to the medical department more than a dozen times over the years...STD after STD. Navy thinking of admin separation. Turns out the guys wife just couldn't leave Jody alone - I'm sure all you ARMY guys know Jody right?.....
It's not rape...he's not dipping somewhere he shouldn't....so YOU gonna drop judgement on him?......Methinks you go too far in the making judgements on things that are none of your damned business.
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SSG (Join to see)
Veterans willful misconduct is, generally defined, “an act involving conscious wrongdoing or known prohibited action.” This includes acts with a “deliberate or intentional wrongdoing with knowledge of or wanton and reckless disregard of its probable consequences.”
If the VA wants to bar veterans benefits based on a death or disability, the VA has to prove by a “preponderance of the evidence” that it was caused by willful misconduct. It's not a high bar to meet, the VA just has to show that most of the evidence supports willful misconduct in their findings.
In PO1 (Join to see) example above, yes it can happen. The spouse is doing Jody and the husband comes home after some deployment and then finds out he's got HIV or Herpes being home for awhile, how is it his fault? It surely wasn't willful misconduct on his part. Those are long term STDs and since he was in the service at the time of the occurrence it most certainly is service connected. Now if he was out doing Jane Doe and he got an STD which couldn't be 'cured' and considered a long term STD, then by all means he did commit willful misconduct; its willful misconduct anyways even it was just a case VD and a few shots got rid of it. So should he get VA rating for it, no, not at all, but does that alone doesn't stop him from receiving other ratings for service connected disabilities he may have? Oh females aren't excluded here.
SSG Lawrence Crow, please tell a female/male veteran/service member that their STD as a result of MST isn't service connected, as by your statement above "getting a VA Pension for an STD is WRONG!!!!". I doubt anyone is willingly allowing themselves to be raped to get a service connected disability.
What do you tell the veteran/service member who contracts HIV because of blood transfusion or a sex partner who didn't realize they had it. During the window period(approx 3wks to 6 months), an infected person can transmit HIV to others although their HIV infection may not be detectable with an antibody test because not enough antibodies have been made.
Here's a scenarios, you get HIV and your VA claim was denied because you abused drugs during your service on active duty and you go to court for your appeal, the courts will likely say that if drugs are used to enjoy or experience their effects and a disability occurs, then that disability is willful misconduct.
But hold your horses, lets couple that with PTSD, depression, anxiety, as a result of MST or combat or both and you were using alcohol, using drugs via needles to cope and they were contaminated and you got HIV, HEP-C or other disease, and let's be honest here you weren't of sound mind, guess what, now there's a case of service connection because of PTSD, depression, anxiety.
I'm sorry SSG Lawrence Crow, you saw someone die while trying to get their compensation, but can you honestly say it was a result of those "who have STDs" that are the scammers, whiners, slackers that caused that individuals death? No it was a result of an antiquated system fraught with deceit and plagued with problems at all levels. Ask any Vietnam Vet of the BS they're still going through. I used the BDD(Benefits Delivery at Discharge) program, which is a fail, 2nd notice received in mail saying my claim is still pending, DD-214 has been uploaded and my VSO sent it in yet the VA can't find it. I've sent my VSO an email and it been a month with no response. I can guarantee you my claim wasn't STD related.
This thread just done pissed me off.
If the VA wants to bar veterans benefits based on a death or disability, the VA has to prove by a “preponderance of the evidence” that it was caused by willful misconduct. It's not a high bar to meet, the VA just has to show that most of the evidence supports willful misconduct in their findings.
In PO1 (Join to see) example above, yes it can happen. The spouse is doing Jody and the husband comes home after some deployment and then finds out he's got HIV or Herpes being home for awhile, how is it his fault? It surely wasn't willful misconduct on his part. Those are long term STDs and since he was in the service at the time of the occurrence it most certainly is service connected. Now if he was out doing Jane Doe and he got an STD which couldn't be 'cured' and considered a long term STD, then by all means he did commit willful misconduct; its willful misconduct anyways even it was just a case VD and a few shots got rid of it. So should he get VA rating for it, no, not at all, but does that alone doesn't stop him from receiving other ratings for service connected disabilities he may have? Oh females aren't excluded here.
SSG Lawrence Crow, please tell a female/male veteran/service member that their STD as a result of MST isn't service connected, as by your statement above "getting a VA Pension for an STD is WRONG!!!!". I doubt anyone is willingly allowing themselves to be raped to get a service connected disability.
What do you tell the veteran/service member who contracts HIV because of blood transfusion or a sex partner who didn't realize they had it. During the window period(approx 3wks to 6 months), an infected person can transmit HIV to others although their HIV infection may not be detectable with an antibody test because not enough antibodies have been made.
Here's a scenarios, you get HIV and your VA claim was denied because you abused drugs during your service on active duty and you go to court for your appeal, the courts will likely say that if drugs are used to enjoy or experience their effects and a disability occurs, then that disability is willful misconduct.
But hold your horses, lets couple that with PTSD, depression, anxiety, as a result of MST or combat or both and you were using alcohol, using drugs via needles to cope and they were contaminated and you got HIV, HEP-C or other disease, and let's be honest here you weren't of sound mind, guess what, now there's a case of service connection because of PTSD, depression, anxiety.
I'm sorry SSG Lawrence Crow, you saw someone die while trying to get their compensation, but can you honestly say it was a result of those "who have STDs" that are the scammers, whiners, slackers that caused that individuals death? No it was a result of an antiquated system fraught with deceit and plagued with problems at all levels. Ask any Vietnam Vet of the BS they're still going through. I used the BDD(Benefits Delivery at Discharge) program, which is a fail, 2nd notice received in mail saying my claim is still pending, DD-214 has been uploaded and my VSO sent it in yet the VA can't find it. I've sent my VSO an email and it been a month with no response. I can guarantee you my claim wasn't STD related.
This thread just done pissed me off.
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PO1 (Join to see)
@ssg lawrence crow your interpretation is not supported in law...trust me - you are incorrect.
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SSG Lawrence Crow
I wish you well on your claim, SSG Joe Garza. And obviously, people who are sexualy assaulted in the military should receive compensation, STD or not. I am just saying, that paying long term for EVERY case is wrong... You will have to admit that MOST cases come from poor moral choices, and YES, I said poor MORAL choices... As a result, there are consequences to our choices and our actions... But my tax dollars should not pay for them, via the VA.
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PO1 (Join to see)
As a great man once said: "let he who is without sin..cast the first stone" - Anyone running for the position of "he who is without sin"? Jesus couldn't find one, even among his religion's own priests......
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I think we tend to judge STDs as a negative against those who get them, but it often isn't the result of risky behavior. People contract STDs even with proper precautions so it wouldn't be appropriate to deny health care to someone who caught one. They require medical treatment like any other disease regardless of how they were contracted. When we judge the victim on how they caught a particular disease, we are treading down a slippery slope.
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