This webinar, conducted by a former military physician and C&P examiner, will cover the following topics:
-
The Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 and how the Medically Unexplained Chronic Multisymptom Illness (MUCMI)/Undiagnosed Illness evolved as a VBA class of disorders;
-
38 CFR § 3.317 and the MUCMI/Undiagnosed Illness;
-
Mainstream healthcare concepts of “Medically Unexplained” and “Undiagnosed Illness”;
-
Examples of MUCMI/Undiagnosed Illness disorders that are NOT IBS, fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue syndrome;
-
Challenges to veterans to qualify for benefits under these regulations; and
-
Strategies for advocates to assist their clients succeed with claims under 38 CFR § 3.317, to include tips for determining exam adequacy/arguing exam inadequacy.
***********
Keri Jackson, M.D., is a family physician who served as a US Army Medical Officer from 1983-1993. She deployed to the Persian Gulf War of 1990-1991 with an active combat unit, the Combat Aviation Brigade of the 3rd Armored Division, US Army Europe. She observed first-hand the many and varied “Environmental Hazards of Service in Southwest Asia” considered to be responsible for what are now known as the MUCMI/Undiagnosed Illnesses of 38 CFR § 3.317. After completing her military service in 1993, she joined a private medical group and remained connected to military service through her partner, a US Army Reservist who deployed to Kuwait and Iraq 2004-2006. In 2003, she transitioned to work as a VA clinician and later C&P examiner. After working at several different VA Medical Centers between 2003 and 2019, the time was right for a different approach to serving veterans. In 2019, she returned to the private practice of medicine to serve veterans and their families through medical advocacy for their claims for compensation due to service-incurred injuries and illnesses.