Can You Get VA Disability Benefits for Gallstones?

If you are a veteran and suffering from gallbladder stones, you could qualify for VA disability benefits. Gallstones, which are small yellow, brown, or black stones that develop in the gallbladder, can lead to severe pain and other health complications. VA benefits can make up for financial losses related to your illness to help you improve your quality of life and better support your family.

Understanding Gallbladder Stones

Gallbladder stones or gallstones form out of digestive fluids that become hardened. The gallbladder, a small organ located on the right side of your stomach, releases these fluids into the stomach to aid with digestion.

Some people develop one gallstone while others develop several at the same time. These stones are often small but can grow to the size of a golf ball.

What are the Symptoms of Gallstones?

Sometimes a patient will develop gallstones without suffering any symptoms. For those patients, it might be possible to ignore the condition entirely.

Other individuals may suffer from many unpleasant and potentially debilitating symptoms, including:

• Severe pain that quickly increases in intensity
• Pain located in the center or upper right of the stomach
• Pain in the back or right shoulder
• Nausea and vomiting
• Fevers
• Jaundice

Pain related to gallstones may fluctuate in severity or come and go. If you develop serious symptoms from gallstones, you will need to seek medical attention right away.

Who is at Risk of Developing Gallstones?

Women, individuals 40 and older, Native Americans, and Mexican Americans are all at an increased risk of developing gallstones. Health factors will also raise the chances of developing gallstones. Overweight and sedentary individuals are more prone to developing this condition, as are those who consume high-cholesterol or high-fat diets. Some medications may also put you at a higher risk of gallstones.

How Do Gallstones Develop?

If you have gallstones, it could be the result of having too much cholesterol in your bile. Your liver excretes bile, and the chemicals in your gallbladder should dissolve the cholesterol and prevent it from causing problems. However, if the liver overproduces cholesterol, the chemicals may not be capable of dissolving all of it, and it can begin to form crystals and, eventually, stones.

An abundance of bilirubin can also lead to gallstones. When our bodies break down red blood cells, they create bilirubin as a byproduct. Certain liver conditions can cause the overproduction of bilirubin, which builds up and leads to stones.

The bile in your gallbladder may also back up if the gallbladder is not releasing frequently or completely. The bile itself may lead to gallstones.

The stones will appear differently depending on their cause. If you have cholesterol gallstones, they will have a yellow color, whereas bilirubin will cause black or brown stones.

Will You Need Gall Bladder Surgery?

Gallbladder removal, which doctors refer to as cholecystectomy, is a procedure that your physician may recommend as a way to address severe gallbladder complications.

Some conditions that may lead to a person needing to have their gallbladder removed include:

• Gallstones in the gallbladder or bile duct
• Inflammation in the gallbladder
• Large polyps in the gallbladder
• Inflammation of the pancreas

Although cholecystectomy is common and relatively safe, all surgical procedures carry some level of risk. When it comes to cholecystectomies, the risks include:

• Bleeding
• Bile leaks
• Infections
• Injuries to the liver, small intestines, and the bile duct
• Anesthesia-related risks (pneumonia and blood clots)

Cholecystectomy will likely prevent you from suffering gallstones in the future, and you should still be able to digest your food properly, even without your gallbladder. If you have a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, you will likely recover fairly quickly. An open cholecystectomy will require additional recovery time.

What is the VA Disability Rating for Gallbladder Stones?

A gallbladder issue will likely receive a disability rating of no more than 30 percent.

Section 38 CRF 4.110-4.114 provides the rating information for different disabilities that impact your digestive tract. Courts found that pain is a form of disability as long as it impacts the person’s ability to work. If you have gallstones that rarely cause symptoms and never caused you to miss work, you probably do not have a strong disability case based on the military rating system.

Can You Recover Disability Benefits for Gallbladder Removal Surgery?

When a person undergoes gallbladder removal, they will often resolve many of the symptoms related to their condition. However, if the symptoms continue, you will likely still receive a gallstone VA disability rating.

The rating for gallbladder removal is:

• 0% – for asymptomatic cases
• 10% – if you experience mild symptoms
• 30% – if you continue to suffer from severe symptoms

Although the VA disability rating for cholecystectomy or other gallbladder complications will typically max out at 30 percent, you can still get compensation. The payments also increase for disabled veterans who have dependents, including children or parents. A 10 percent disability rating will currently mean payments of $144.14 per month, while a 20 percent rating is $284.93. Once your rating reaches 30 percent, whether you have dependents will impact your monthly compensation.

When are Gallstones Service-Related?

Recovering VA benefits for gallbladder conditions requires that the ailment be related to your time in the military.

To prove a service connection for the injury, you must indicate that:

• You have a current diagnosis of gallstones
• An illness or injury that occurred during the time in service caused the condition
• A link between the service and the illness

For members of the military, exposure to toxic substances and certain diets can lead to gallbladder conditions. Sometimes, a veteran might have a condition before their time in the military, but their time in the service worsened the condition. In these cases, the veteran can recover benefits even though they had a preexisting condition. Evidence of a diagnosis during your time in the service may help you prove a connection.

What Conditions are Similar to Gallstones?

At times, you may believe that you have symptoms of one condition, but it turns out that you are suffering a different illness that has similar symptoms. Many conditions can mimic gallstones.

GERD and Acid Reflux

GERD, or acid reflux, may mimic the symptoms of gallstones. The pain related to acid reflux typically runs from the stomach to the upper esophagus and worsens when the individual lies down. As mentioned, gallbladder condition will often cause pain in the middle and right upper side of the abdomen, and occasionally in the back or the shoulders.

While reflux typically occurs just after a large meal, gallbladder conditions might hurt hours after eating. It will be important for anyone with these conditions to see their doctor for a diagnosis.

The VA disability ratings for GERD ranges from 10% to 60% depending on the frequency and severity of symptoms.

Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is a condition that impacts the person’s digestive tract. This condition is inflammatory and can lead to severe and even life-threatening complications. Ulcerative colitis can cause abdominal cramping that you could confuse with gallstones or other similar conditions.

The VA disability ratings for ulcerative colitis range from 10% to 100% depending on the frequency and the severity of symptoms.

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Gastritis

Gastritis can also cause symptoms that might appear similar to gallbladder conditions. It involves the inflammation of the stomach lining and can result from the same types of bacteria that lead to ulcers. It can lead to severe conditions, including stomach cancer.

For gastritis, the VA disability ratings range from 10% to 60% depending on the amount of the stomach affected and if there is bleeding.

Veterans with any of these conditions can be awarded VA disability benefits. If you suffer from several of these conditions, the VA can give you a different and potentially higher VA disability rating as long as you aren’t pyramiding and stacking the same conditions on top of each other.

How Does the VA Rate Multiple Conditions?

If you suffer from gallbladder stones, you may have a VA disability rating of 30 percent. If you have other multiple conditions in addition to gallstones, you can get compensation for more than one disability – but VA Math can get tricky.

Imagine you have gallstones rated at 30 percent and a knee injury that the VA rates at 20 percent. Simple math would suggest that you would have a 50 percent disability rating and collect benefits corresponding to that rating. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

When calculating VA disability, you start with 100 percent. Now take away 30 percent to represent the gallstones disability rating, and you have an individual who is at 70 percent of their full potential. When you account for the 20 percent disability for the knee injury, you are no longer removing 20 percent of 100. You are taking 20 percent of 70, which is your effectiveness level after subtracting for the gallstones. Twenty percent of 70 is 14. Subtract 14 from 70, and you get 56, which is your new effectiveness level.

If you are only 56 percent effective, the VA disability system will determine that you are 44 percent disabled. However, the VA disability benefits system only counts by tens, so you will have to round down to 40. Your new disability rating with the two conditions will be 40 percent, and that will be the level of benefits that you will recover.

There are exceptions to this math, however, such as when a person has bilateral injuries. It is important to look into the benefits that will apply based on your particular injuries and illnesses. You can also recover additional benefits if you have dependents.

Calculating VA disability benefits can become confusing and complicated. Our law firm maintains an up to date VA disability benefits calculator that you can use to estimate your likely benefits. If you still have questions about what you can recover or believe the VA miscalculated your claim, you should speak to an attorney about your options.

Use our VA disability calculator to estimate your
combined VA rating and monthly payment

What Should You Do if the VA Denied Your Claim or Gave You a Lower Rating?

Unfortunately, recovering VA benefits is not always easy. The VA may fail to rate your disability or deny your claim entirely. In many cases, the VA might assign you a disability rating that does not match what you anticipated or what you believe your claim is worth.

There are many reasons that the VA might undervalue a claim or wrongfully deny your benefits. 

• The VA might have made a mistake.
• You or your dependents might not have provided enough information to support the claim.
• Your doctor failed to use the correct language needed for demonstrating the severity of your condition or for linking it to your service.
• You made technical errors, such as missing a deadline, using the wrong form, or failing to provide all of the necessary documentation.

Receiving a denial of benefits when you are suffering from a disabling condition can be frustrating. You need to understand that you have options for appealing the VA’s decision when this happens and get a rating that more accurately addresses your medical ailments.

By consulting with a VA disability attorney, you can learn more about why the VA denied your claim and what you can do to get the help you and your family need.

Get the VA Compensation You Deserve

Veterans can recover benefits for a wide range of different ailments. It is important to note that the injuries and illnesses need not be combat-related. If a member of the military suffers from an injury because of sitting at a desk all day, that injury qualifies for benefits as well. However, we have to prove that the injury is related to their time in service.

A VA disability lawyer can help you get the right VA disability rating for gallstones. We can also guide you through an appeal process and help you challenge unfair VA decisions to improve your chances of recovering your VA disability benefits.

Our family-owned law firm is devoted to protecting the rights of veterans. We have been working to help people for more than three decades. If you are a veteran, we are happy to have our dedicated staff members get to work for you and your family.

Call us today to discuss your VA disability appeal or your first application. The call is free and we won’t charge you a single fee until we win your case. We even pay for the postage for all of the documentation you send to our office. You can look for a VA disability attorney near you or call us and join the thousands of veterans living off of VA disability thanks to Woods and Woods.

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Frequently Asked Questions about VA Disability for Gallstones and Gall Bladder Conditions