For years, veterans with inclusion body myositis have asserted that their disease was caused by exposure to toxic materials while they served in the US armed forces. Members of TMA’s Military Veterans with Myositis Affinity Group have long advocated for the Veterans Administration to designate IBM as a presumptive service-connected disease, a designation that would give them access to significant health-related benefits.
IBM is currently being reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (often called “the National Academies”) as part of a larger study on veteran health and military exposures. TMA veterans are hoping this review will finally get them the benefits they feel they deserve.
The National Academies are an independent group of scientific experts that advise the US government. Congress and federal agencies—including the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—often ask them to review medical evidence and make recommendations. The academies’ reports do not automatically change law or policy, but the VA is now required by law to take their findings seriously when deciding benefits.
IBM is one of eight serious neurologic or neuromuscular diseases being reviewed by an ad hoc committee at the National Academies to see whether they may be linked to military environmental exposures. Analysis of existing data will be carried out looking for patterns across many studies. IBM is included in this review because it is progressive and disabling and often affects veterans later in life. A recent report also shows that IBM is more common in veterans than previously recognized.
If the evidence presented to this committee demonstrates that military exposures are linked to IBM—even modestly—it could lay the groundwork for presumptive VA benefits, which would reduce the burden of proof for veterans seeking benefits and acknowledge that IBM is a serious, service-connected disease. For a condition that is progressive, disabling, and has no cure, this recognition would make a significant and meaningful difference in veterans with IBM to be able to enjoy an improved quality of life without the stress of a lengthy appeals process.
The VA is required to use a formal process—called the Presumptive Decision Process—when deciding whether a disease should become presumptive. That process relies heavily on the National Academies consensus reports. Once this report is published, the VA uses it to decide the next steps.
TMA urges the adoption of improved processes for obtaining disability benefits from the Veterans Administration. These benefits are crucial as they entitle former service members to comprehensive healthcare, disability compensation, travel allowances for medical appointments, medical equipment, a disability housing grant to adapt their home, stipends for their spouse as a caregiver, and a variety of other assistance.
TMA calls upon the Veterans Benefits Administration at the US Department of Veterans Affairs to approve a presumptive service connection for veterans with IBM. This would mean that if a former service member is diagnosed with IBM, they would automatically receive 100% disability benefits, as it would be presumed that their IBM is directly related to their military service exposure.
The committee’s public meetings began in January 2026. The VA has set July 2027 as the date for the final report of the study committee.
Learn more:
Not The Life We Wanted – An Inclusion Body Myositis Documentary
Dan and Alicia Lowther – “We are on a mission to have IBM become presumptive service connected through the Veterans Administration so vets with IBM can access the services they need.”
IBM Patients Battle for Veterans Benefits
My father world war 2 vet. Navy. They were given many shots during their service. My mother’s first two children pass of a disease myotonia. One a week. Born with no muscle and one a year as muscles deteriorated. Many years later my father went to reunion in Pennsylvania with guys on ship. The subject brought up of children. Many on his ship had same issues and diseases with their children. I was diagnosed DM two years ago. I’m starting to believe some correlation in all of this. You think we will ever know the truth??