March 2nd 2026:

Rescission of Interim Final Rule, Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication

A Rule by the Veterans Affairs Department on 02/27/2026

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

VA announces an immediate rescission of the interim final rule, Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication, published in the Federal Register on February 17, 2026. 91 FR 7118. VA issued the rule to clarify existing policy and protect veterans' benefits in the wake of an ongoing court action. VA always takes veterans' concerns seriously and recognizes that many commenters construed the interim final rule as something that could result in adverse consequences.

VA remains committed to its mission of ensuring that every claimant applying for benefits—especially veterans who have earned disability compensation through their honorable service to the Nation—receives all benefits to which they are entitled under the law as expeditiously as possible. To ensure that VA can fulfill this mission while maintaining the trust and confidence of our Nation's veterans, as well as their families, caregivers, and survivors, the Department hereby advises that the interim final rule is rescinded effective immediately.

Good Cause Justification: Under 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B) and (d)(3), This action does not resolve the legal questions now before the courts; it simply restores prior regulatory text to maintain stability.

Subpart A—General Policy in Rating

•  4.10

Functional impairment.

The basis of disability evaluations is the ability of the body as a whole, or of the psyche, or of a system or organ of the body to function under the ordinary conditions of daily life including employment. Whether the upper or lower extremities, the back or abdominal wall, the eyes or ears, or the cardiovascular, digestive, or other system, or psyche are affected, evaluations are based upon lack of usefulness, of these parts or systems, especially in self-support. This imposes upon the medical examiner the responsibility of furnishing, in addition to the etiological, anatomical, pathological, laboratory and prognostic data required for ordinary medical classification, full description of the effects of disability upon the person's ordinary activity. In this connection, it will be remembered that a person may be too disabled to engage in employment although he or she is up and about and fairly comfortable at home or upon limited activity.