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Families of fallen service members · ASPEKT

Death “not related to service”

One sentence in the Commission’s decision decides the fate of the whole case. It determines not only whether there will be a payment, but also what that payment will be.

The worst thing in this situation is the feeling of helplessness. A person died at war, and a document says their death had nothing to do with service. Words cannot refute that. Documents can.

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When this happens

Almost always in one of four situations:

  • death from an illness during service, without a wound;
  • death in hospital — weeks or months after being wounded;
  • death at home, after treatment, when the consequences of the wound had not gone away;
  • sudden death at a combat position from a heart or vascular condition, recorded as an ordinary illness.

They have one thing in common: there is a gap between service and death. It is in this gap that a link which really exists disappears.

What the Commission’s decision is based on

The Military Medical Commission does not investigate. It assesses what it has been given: medical documents, information on the circumstances, certificates from the unit. If something is missing, the decision is made without it.

This is where most wrong decisions come from:

  • the medical record is incomplete, some entries remained at another facility;
  • there are no documents on the conditions in which the person served;
  • the wound and the illness were examined separately, because nobody asked about the link between them;
  • the unit’s documents never arrived.

The Commission’s decision is not a truth established forever. It is a document based on other documents. When the documents change, the decision changes.

What can be done

1. Collect the complete medical records From every facility where the person was treated: the military unit, the casualty stabilisation point, the hospital and the military hospital. We obtain the records with advocate’s requests — formal requests that must be answered; private persons are given medical records reluctantly and slowly.
2. Obtain documents on the circumstances of service Orders, information from the unit, the circumstances of the wound. What the Commission may not have seen.
3. Raise the question of the link directly When there is a medical link between a wound and an illness, it must be examined, not skipped. If necessary, by an expert examination.
4. Seek a review or go to court Depending on what the collected documents show.

An expert examination costs money, and it is needed before there is any result. The firm covers these expenses; if there is no payment, they stay with us.

What we need from you

To tell us how it all happened: where he served, when he was wounded, where he was treated, what he complained of, when he died. And to give us whatever you have — even if it is a few papers and a discharge summary.

After that, it is our work. You will not have to go round hospitals asking for copies of medical records.

What it costs

No advance payment. The fee is 15 percent of the amount granted to you, and only if the payment actually arrives. Details are in the section “What it costs”.

The outcome of every case depends on its circumstances and evidence. Nothing on this page is a promise or guarantee of any particular result.

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