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RAREJAZZ wrote:

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I want to reach out to all vets with Sarcoidosis. VA has no idea how to deal with this.

I'm not sure why you would say this. As a former VA Rating Specialist and DRO I can tell you that we were well acquainted with sarcoidosis. It's actually a much more common ailment than many might realize. In fact, many folks have sarcoidosis and don't even know it since it stays asymptomatic in many cases. There is even a specific diagnostic code for sarcoidosis in the VA Rating Schedule that tells VA decision makers exactly how to assign evaluations for sarcoidosis. VA rating personnel are required to apply these criteria, they cannot make up their own; therefore, their personal knowledge of sarcoidosis actually becomes a moot point when assigning an evaluation for this condition.

If you are referring to the issue of service connection rather than evaluation (these are two totally separate decisions), this will depend on what the medical evidence says, not the knowledge of sarcoidosis held by the decision maker. If someone is diagnosed with sarcoidosis while on active duty, it's generally a no brainer; however, it can get more complicated if you are trying to obtain service connection for something, not just sarcoidosis, and there is no diagnosis while on active duty. In these situations your doctor must be able to make the case and there must be evidence to back up whatever history the doc is relying on to make the case. This is often where such claims fall short. It has nothing to do with anyone at VA's knowledge of sarcoidosis, it's merely a lack of documentation to support this or that medical opinion.

Finally, as far as the doctors at VA Medical Centers, they are no more or less knowledgeable about sarcoidosis than any other random cross section of doctors that you will find at a Medical Center, VA or otherwise. Although pulmonologists are generally the most learned in this area, sarcoidosis is certainly a common enough medical condition that any medical doctor would be aware of it.

Having said all of that, generally when someone says something like "VA has no idea how to deal with this" it usually reflects some difficulty that specific individual had in his/her dealings with VA rather than some overall lack of knowledge on the part of VA about some medical issue. For example, if you had trouble obtaining service connection it is more likely that this was due to a deficiency in the medical reports or the medical history rather than VA not knowing how to deal with sarcoidosis. You probably would have had the same problem no matter what the diagnosis.

Cruiser