Symptoms and diagnoses across the record
Search treatment records, examinations, medications, lay statements, and decisions for conditions VA may not have addressed.
Secondary-condition screening
One service-connected disability may affect more than one part of your health.
VA recognizes disabilities caused by—or worsened by—an already service-connected condition. ClaimScope searches the record for supported connections and evidence gaps instead of handing every Veteran the same generic list.
Causation and aggravation
Test whether a service-connected disability may have caused another condition or made it worse, and keep those theories distinct.
Medical evidence needed
Identify whether the record contains a diagnosis, documented history, reasoned medical link, baseline evidence, or a gap for the clinician to address.
Rating and combined-benefit impact
Estimate possible rating and back-pay scenarios conservatively, then screen related issues such as bilateral factors, TDIU, and SMC.
Common record pattern · illustrative example
A lumbar-spine rating is granted—but the leg nerve impairment documented in the same examination is never separately evaluated.
The spine rating criteria direct VA to evaluate associated objective neurologic abnormalities separately. A decision can therefore be incomplete even when VA correctly grants the back condition itself.
What the file shows
- 1The Veteran is already service connected at 40% for a lumbar-spine disability.
- 2The VA examination records pain radiating into both legs, reduced sensation, and findings attributed to sciatic-nerve radiculopathy.
- 3The rating narrative and code sheet address only the spine. Neither leg appears as a separately adjudicated disability.
- 4The omission is matched to the examination, decision, code sheet, notice date, and available review deadline.
How ClaimScope would address it
If the necessary facts were already in the record and the decision is reviewable, compare Higher-Level Review with the other available lanes.
If the record needs a diagnosis, severity evidence, or a medical explanation, identify the new and relevant evidence needed for a Supplemental Claim.
Draft an issue-specific argument that cites the exact examination findings and asks VA to adjudicate each affected extremity without overstating severity.
Calculate the possible combined-rating and payment effect, then verify effective-date, bilateral-factor, dependency, and payment-history assumptions.
Official references: 38 C.F.R. § 4.71a, General Rating Formula, Note (1); bilateral factor; and VA’s 2026 compensation rates.
What a useful secondary-condition evidence plan should answer
What is the current diagnosis or persistent disability?
Which disability is already service connected?
Is the theory causation, aggravation, or both?
What medical facts support the proposed relationship?
Does an examination or opinion address the correct legal question?
What evidence could weaken or contradict the theory?
Examples on the internet can be educational, but they do not establish medical causation in an individual case. ClaimScope may draft a focused medical-opinion request for the Veteran’s clinician to independently review, revise, and sign when supported.
This screening is educational and does not diagnose a condition or guarantee VA compensation. Initial-claim assistance remains free; paid attorney services are limited to qualifying matters after VA has issued a decision.