Source: http://www.thefederalregister.com/d.p/2008-09-23-E8-21980
Timestamp: 2014-10-02 02:20:49
Document Index: 726877762

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 7114', 'art 3944', 'art 6726', 'art 140', 'art 5250', 'art 1739', 'art 30206', 'art 514', 'art 9740', 'art 180', 'art 4']

Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Evaluation of Scars, Daily Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of the Federal Government
14 CFR Part 7114 CFR Part 3944 CFR Part 6726 CFR Part 140 CFR Part 5250 CFR Part 1739 CFR Part 30206 CFR Part 514 CFR Part 9740 CFR Part 180	Federal Register: September 23, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 185)
DOCID: fr23se08-17
FR Doc E8-21980
CFR Citation: 38 CFR Part 4
RIN ID: RIN 2900-AM55
SUBJECT CATEGORY: Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Evaluation of Scars DATES: Effective Date: This amendment is effective October 23, 2008.
Applicability Date: This amendment shall apply to all applications for benefits received by VA on or after October 23, 2008. A veteran whom VA rated before such date under diagnostic codes 7800, 7801, 7802, 7803, 7804, or 7805 of 38 CFR 4.118 may request review under these clarified criteria, irrespective of whether his or her disability has worsened since the last review. The effective date of any award, or any increase in disability compensation, based on this amendment will not be earlier than the effective date of this rule, but will otherwise be assigned under the current regulations regarding effective dates, 38 CFR 3.400, etc.
DOCUMENT SUMMARY: This document amends the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Schedule for Rating Disabilities by revising that portion of the Schedule that addresses the Skin, so that it more clearly reflects our policies concerning the evaluation of scars.
SUMMARY: Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Evaluation of Scars, SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
On January 3, 2008, VA published in the Federal Register (73 FR 428) a proposal to amend those portions of the Schedule for Rating Disabilities that address the Skin, 38 CFR 4.118, by revising the guidelines for the evaluation of scars. Interested persons were invited to submit written comments on or before February 4, 2008. We received comments from the National Organization of Veterans' Advocates, Inc. (NOVA), and Disabled American Veterans (DAV). NOVA's Comment NOVA addressed a proposed change to a note in diagnostic code 7801 that would consider the trunk as one area of the body. Currently, the note in diagnostic code 7801 directs that scars on widely separated areas, as on two or more extremities or on anterior and posterior surfaces of extremities or trunk, will be separately rated. We proposed to revise this note to clarify that if multiple scars are present, VA will assign a separate evaluation for each affected extremity based on the total area of the qualifying scars on that extremity, and assign a separate evaluation for the trunk based on the total area of the qualifying scars on the trunk. Qualifying scars under diagnostic code 7801 are deep scars that are not located on the head, face, or neck.
NOVA is concerned that the proposed change will not adequately compensate veterans for scars of the trunk. NOVA stated the rationale for the change of ensuring that the area of all deep scars of the trunk are taken into account was inadequate considering that the anterior and posterior surfaces of the trunk may be the largest separate and distinct areas of the body. Second, NOVA stated that a scar can cross over into more than one separate area of the body. In the proposed rule, we stated that such a scar would be treated as two separate scars to ensure that the ratings reflect the disability to each distinct area of the body. Third, NOVA stated the proposed change would potentially result in a lower evaluation for a veteran with one scar that covers both the anterior and posterior trunk. NOVA offers the following example: A veteran has one 30 inch scar that wraps around his anterior and posterior trunk, with 15 square inches on the anterior side and 15 square inches on his posterior side. Under the current diagnostic code, this scar would be rated separately at 20 percent and 20 percent, for a combined evaluation of 40 percent. Under the proposed change, the veteran would be [[Page 54709]]
entitled to one evaluation for a 30 inch scar of 20 percent.
Fourth, NOVA comments that under the proposed change a veteran who has two scars, one on his posterior trunk and one on his anterior trunk, would only receive one rating for that area; we would not rate each scar separately, and then provide a combined rating. The effect could potentially be a lower rating under the revised rule than the veteran would receive under the current rule.
We did not intend in the proposed regulation to produce a lower evaluation for scars of the trunk, and we agree that this could happen under the criteria we proposed. While in the proposed regulation we considered the trunk to be a single location for purposes of evaluating multiple scars, after further consideration, we have made changes in the final rule indicating that the anterior and posterior portions of the trunk represent separate locations for purposes of evaluation. With that change, separate evaluations can be assigned for the total area of qualifying scars of each extremity, for the total area of qualifying scars o