Veterans frustrated by VA disability claims backlog

Veterans frustrated by VA disability claims backlog
Miami Herald
12.27.12
BY ALEX BRANCH
THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Infantryman Josh Odom was seven months into his first tour in Iraq when someone lobbed a grenade over the gate at the combat outpost he guarded.

It exploded six feet from the Rockwall native, driving three chunks of shrapnel deep into his right shoulder. One pierced his lung.

Odom wound up at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he spent four months in rehab before completing his military service in May 2010.

Still suffering neck and shoulder pain, he filed a disability claim at a Veterans Affairs Department office in Dallas.

He expected the claim to take a while, he said, but not the nearly 18 months he waited for a partial decision, then eight more for a final ruling.

While he waited, lingering pain combined with frequent consultations with doctors for surgeries made it difficult to work.
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