What can I claim secondary to fibromyalgia?
1 condition in the Repatriation Medical Authority's Statements of Principles list fibromyalgia as a factor. If DVA has accepted your fibromyalgia, each of these has a documented pathway to a further claim.
At a glance
- Accepted conditionFibromyalgia
- Conditions it may open1
- SourceRMA SoPs
- Chart Review$600 + GST
How a secondary claim works
Some Statement of Principles factors are not about service at all — they name another condition. Where DVA has already accepted your fibromyalgia, and another condition's SoP lists fibromyalgia as a factor, that part of the next claim is already established on your file. How a secondary claim works, in full →
Conditions that list fibromyalgia as a factor
Quoted from the instrument. A pathway existing is not the same as a claim succeeding — each factor carries thresholds your record has to satisfy.
Temporomandibular disorder
RH No. 47 of 2018 · BoP No. 48 of 2018
Reasonable Hypothesis — factor (8): “having fibromyalgia at the time of the clinical onset of temporomandibular disorder” [clinical onset] — factor (20): “having fibromyalgia at the time of the clinical worsening of temporomandibular disorder” [worsening]
This factor appears in the Reasonable Hypothesis instrument only, which applies to operational service.
Other accepted conditions that also open temporomandibular disorder
If any of these is also on your file, it reaches some of the same conditions fibromyalgia does.
What DVA means by fibromyalgia
A claim is tested against the definition first. If the diagnosis on your file does not meet this wording, the factors below never get reached — so it is worth checking that what your doctor wrote matches what the instrument requires.
Fibromyalgia, for the purposes of the Statement of Principles, for the purposes of this Statement of Principles, fibromyalgia means a syndrome of chronic widespread pain, with associated somatic symptoms, that has persisted for at least 3 months, and which meets the following diagnostic criteria, as assessed by a medical practitioner: (a) a widespread pain index: (i) of at least 7, with an associated symptom severity scale score of at least 5; or (ii) from 4 to 6, with an associated symptom severity scale score of at least 9; and (b) pain is present in at least 4 of 5 regions from the specified list of regions; and (c) the pain and symptoms are not better accounted for by another medical or psychiatric condition.
Aggravation-only factors. In this instrument, subsections 9(6) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, fibromyalgia where it was already present before or during service. If service caused fibromyalgia outright, those factors are not available to you.
RH No. 107 of 2021 · BoP No. 108 of 2021 · 4 factors
Reviewed by Dr Thomas Perkins
Founding doctor, Veterans Health Centre · former RAAF aviation medical officer · 13 years working exclusively with ADF members and veterans. Full profile →
Fibromyalgia accepted?
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