The Nevada County Veterans Services Office (NCVSO) and Madelyn Helling Library are teaming up on an effort to build a comprehensive digital library of medical studies that will be used to help support the claims of our veterans.
The NCVSO assists veterans with obtaining compensation for injuries, diseases, or health conditions that were a result of service. When helping veterans to submit their claims for compensation to the Veterans Administration (VA), NCVSO must use every available resource to gather the evidence needed to support the claim of our veteran. Often, it's beneficial to submit a peer-reviewed medical study that supports the type of claim that the veteran is filing. These medical studies are usually only available for a fee or through a subscription service, however, the partnership with Madelyn Helling Library will help create better access and service for our veteran community.
Many veterans are currently battling conditions that they believe are due to their exposure to either jet fuel, Agent Orange, solvents, herbicides, and most recently, the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because of current VA laws and regulations these claims can be extremely difficult to be decided in favor of the veteran. Our collaboration with the library will build a comprehensive resource of medical studies to help support complex claims and increase the chances that a claim will be decided in favor of our veterans.
Medical studies can be used to show a strong relationship with conditions veterans are already living with and the subsequent development of another relatable condition. A good example of this would be a veteran battling the symptoms of PTSD and their development of migraine headaches, which is a common complaint in our office. NCVSO office can now assist the veteran with researching and obtaining a peer-reviewed medical study that shows a causal relationship between PTSD and migraines. This enables NCVSO to provide the necessary information to the VA on behalf of our veterans without relying on VA doctors who decide these claims.
All veterans are encouraged to visit the Nevada County Veteran's Services Office or call to discuss current health conditions and if they may be related to military service.
The Nevada County Veteran’s Services Office is located at 988 McCourtney Road in Grass Valley and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. David West is the Nevada County Veterans Service Officer and can be reached at (530) 265-1446 or david.west@co.nevada.ca.us.
