Presumptions of Service Connection for Diseases Associated With Service Involving Detention or Internment as a Prisoner of War

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is issuing this interim final rule to establish guidelines for establishing presumptions of service connection for diseases associated with service involving detention or internment as a prisoner of war. In accordance with those guidelines, this interim final rule also establishes presumptions of service connection for atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease and for stroke disease arising in former prisoners of war. These rules are necessary because claims based on service involving detention or internment as a prisoner of war present unique medical issues and because factors including the lack of contemporaneous medical records during periods of captivity and the relatively small body of available medical information present obstacles to substantiating claims for service-connected benefits based on prisoner-of-war service. By establishing guidelines for identifying diseases associated with service involving detention or internment as a prisoner of war, these rules will help VA to ensure that claims for service-connected benefits for disability or death of former prisoners of war are decided fairly, consistently, and based on all available medical information concerning the diseases associated with detention or internment as a prisoner of war.