Chapter 11, Subchapter II, Section 1112, Subsection (b) · 38 U.S.C. Chapter 11 — COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY OR DEATH

Contents

(b)

(1)For the purposes of section 1110 of this title and subject to the provisions of section 1113 of this title, in the case of a veteran who is a former prisoner of war—

(A)a disease specified in paragraph (2) which became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more after active military, naval, air, or space service shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding that there is no record of such disease during the period of service; and

(B)if the veteran was detained or interned as a prisoner of war for not less than thirty days, a disease specified in paragraph (3) which became manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more after active military, naval, air, or space service shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding that there is no record of such disease during the period of service.

(2)The diseases specified in this paragraph are the following:

(A)Psychosis.

(B)Any of the anxiety states.

(C)Dysthymic disorder (or depressive neurosis).

(D)Organic residuals of frostbite, if the Secretary determines that the veteran was detained or interned in climatic conditions consistent with the occurrence of frostbite.

(E)Post-traumatic osteoarthritis.

(F)Osteoporosis, if the Secretary determines that the veteran has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

(3)The diseases specified in this paragraph are the following:

(A)Avitaminosis.

(B)Beriberi (including beriberi heart disease).

(C)Chronic dysentery.

(D)Helminthiasis.

(E)Malnutrition (including optic atrophy associated with malnutrition).

(F)Pellagra.

(G)Any other nutritional deficiency.

(H)Cirrhosis of the liver.

(I)Peripheral neuropathy except where directly related to infectious causes.

(J)Irritable bowel syndrome.

(K)Peptic ulcer disease.

(L)Atherosclerotic heart disease or hypertensive vascular disease (including hypertensive heart disease) and their complications (including myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure and arrhythmia).

(M)Stroke and its complications.

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Defined terms · 18

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chronic disease
includes— Anemia, primary Arteriosclerosis Arthritis Atrophy, progressive muscular Brain hemorrhage Brain thrombosis Bronchiectasis Calculi of the kidney, bladder, or gallbladder Cardiovascular-renal disease, including hypertension Cirrhosis of the liver Coccidioidomycosis Diabetes mellitus Encephalitis lethargica residuals Endocarditis Endocrinopathies Epilepsies Hansen’s disease Hodgkin’s disease Leukemia Lupus erythematosus, systemic Myasthenia gravis Myelitis Myocarditis Nephritis Organic diseases of the nervous system Osteitis deformans (Paget’s disease) Osteomalacia Palsy, bulbar Paralysis agitans Psychoses Purpura idiopathic, hemorrhagic Raynaud’s disease Sarcoidosis Scleroderma Sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral Sclerosis, multiple Syringomyelia Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s disease) Tuberculosis, active Tumors, malignant, or of the brain or spinal cord or peripheral nerves Ulcers, peptic (gastric or duodenal) and such other chronic diseases as the Secretary may add to this list.
covered mental health condition
means post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, or other mental health diagnosis described in the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association that the Secretary determines to be related to military sexual trauma.
covered service
means active military, naval, air, or space service—
covered veteran
has the meaning given that term in section 1119(c) of this title.
herbicide agent
means a chemical in an herbicide used in support of the United States and allied military operations in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975.
illness
includes a disease or other condition affecting the health of an individual, including mental and physical health.
Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record
means the data system maintained under section 996 of title 10.
military sexual trauma
means, with respect to a veteran, a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment during active military, naval, air, or space service.
period of war
includes, in the case of any veteran—
Persian Gulf veteran
means a veteran who served on active duty in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations, Afghanistan, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, or Jordan, during the Persian Gulf War.
qualified veteran
means a veteran who has a service-connected disability, or service-connected disabilities, not rated as total but who has been awarded a rating of total disability by reason of inability to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of such disability or disabilities.
qualifying chronic disability
means a chronic disability resulting from any of the following (or any combination of any of the following):
radiation-exposed veteran
means (i) a veteran who, while serving on active duty, participated in a radiation-risk activity, or (ii) an individual who, while a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces, participated in a radiation-risk activity during a period of active duty for training or inactive duty training.
radiation-risk activity
means any of the following:
social security increase
means the percentage by which benefit amounts payable under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.) are increased for any fiscal year as a result of a determination under section 215(i) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 415(i)).
toxic exposure risk activity
has the meaning given such term in section 1710(e)(4) of this title.
tropical disease
includes— Amebiasis Blackwater fever Cholera Dracontiasis Dysentery Filiariasis Hansen’s disease Leishmaniasis, including kala-azar Loiasis Malaria Onchocerciasis Oroya fever Pinta Plague Schistosomiasis Yaws Yellow fever and such other tropical diseases as the Secretary may add to this list.
veteran
includes a person who died in the active military, naval, air, or space service.