Randy Leger Diaz said his entire body hurt after serving in the Marines. Beginning in 2014, he performed demanding physical training and warehouse work while stationed with the 7th Communication Battalion at Camp Hansen on Okinawa, Japan, before completing his service in 2017.

After returning to civilian life, Leger said his knees popped and locked while sharp pain traveled through his legs. He also experienced pain in his back, wrist and shoulders, along with sleep and stomach problems.

Leger filed for Department of Veterans Affairs benefits in November 2024, but the VA denied monthly compensation for most of his conditions. His attorney requested a higher level review by a more senior VA employee using the evidence from the original determination.

The VA later acknowledged errors in collecting medical evidence for most of the conditions Leger claimed. He eventually received monthly compensation for some of the claims that had initially been rejected.

His experience has become increasingly familiar as the VA expands its reliance on automation to collect records before claims determinations. An investigation by The Beam found that this expansion coincided with a major increase in errors involving medical evidence needed to process claims.

The VA introduced Automated Decision Support in December 2021. The system collects medical records, determines whether a claim is ready for review or requires another examination, and prepares a summary for the VA employee responsible for deciding compensation.

The tool does not determine how much compensation a veteran receives, and it is used only for certain conditions. Its initial rollout covered hypertension cases at the VA office in Boise, Idaho, before the agency expanded it to additional conditions and regional offices.

In 2023, the VA completed nearly 300,000 claims decisions using Automated Decision Support. By April 2026, the tool was taking action on claims more than 50,000 times each month, while the VA planned to apply it to 90% of all claims by the end of 2027.

VA data show evidence collection errors rising sharply during that expansion. The agency counted more than 66,000 errors in fiscal year 2021, with the total increasing every subsequent year and exceeding 329,000 in fiscal year 2026.

Higher level reviewers sent back about 23% of claims decisions for more evidence and reconsideration in fiscal year 2021. By fiscal year 2026, that rate had climbed to 35%.

The published statistics do not distinguish between mistakes made by employees and mistakes connected to automation. Errors are also recorded only when veterans appeal, meaning claims that are never challenged do not enter that count.

VA press secretary Quinn Slaven rejected the connection between automation and the errors. “There is no evidence to suggest the Automated Decision Support tool is causing errors,” Slaven told The Beam by email.

Slaven said identified errors increased because the number of denials appealed through higher level review quadrupled from 2020 to 2026. He did not address data showing that the share of reviews sending cases back for reconsideration also rose.

Margarita Devlin, the VA’s principal deputy under secretary for benefits, testified in April 2026 that mistakes were declining and accuracy was improving. Citing an issue based measurement, she told lawmakers, “Respectfully, sir, they’re higher than they’ve been in two years at 94%.”

The VA inspector general found during the pilot program that Automated Decision Support routinely produced inaccurate summaries and missed important details, according to a September 2023 report. The VA does not publicly release error rates specifically for claims handled with the tool.

The American Legion also reviewed VA regional offices in Chicago, Puerto Rico and Louisville, Kentucky, during 2025. Employees reported that the system frequently missed important details, struggled with handwritten notes and failed to extract critical evidence from records.

Board of Veterans’ Appeals documents showed similar problems. In separate cases involving bilateral hearing loss and service related asthma, automated processing missed relevant evidence or produced significant discrepancies, leading to additional review and changed outcomes.

Leger expressed relief that his errors were found, but anger over how the claims had been handled. “I’m glad the errors were identified, but it’s hard not to feel like the VA just wasted years of my life by not doing basic development the first time around.”

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