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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 7522
Erectile dysfunction (often called ED) means having trouble getting or keeping an erection. The VA rates it as a genitourinary condition. To receive benefits, the ED usually has to be linked to your military service. One common path is "secondary" service connection: under VA rules, a problem that is caused by — or made worse by — a condition the VA already accepts as service-connected can also be service-connected. The rule states that a disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected, and once that link is shown the secondary condition is treated as part of the original one. ED is frequently claimed this way because it can be related to other conditions or to the medicines used to treat them.
The diagnostic code for ED is 7522. In the current rating schedule (38 CFR 4.115b), code 7522 is listed as "Erectile dysfunction, with or without penile deformity," and it carries a 0% schedular rating. A 0% rating means the VA recognizes the condition but assigns no percentage for it under the schedule alone. The schedule also notes that a disease or injury of the penis that causes scarring or deformity is rated under code 7522. Importantly, the rules direct the VA to look beyond the percentage: when a claim involves loss or loss of use of a creative organ, the rater must check 38 CFR 3.350 to see whether extra pay called Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) applies.
This SMC piece is why a 0% ED rating can still come with payment. Under 38 CFR 3.350, special monthly compensation is payable for the loss or loss of use of one or more creative organs, and this is paid in addition to the regular compensation based on your disability percentage. This 2021 update (effective November 14, 2021) replaced the older entry, "Deformity, with loss of erectile power," with the broader "Erectile dysfunction" entry. The VA also explained that a mental health condition (such as depression or anxiety) that develops because of service-connected ED can be claimed as its own secondary condition and rated separately under the mental disorders rules.
Erectile dysfunction itself is not on the VA's presumptive exposure lists (such as Agent Orange or PACT Act burn-pit lists), so there is no automatic exposure shortcut for ED on its own. Instead, the main route is the secondary one above — for example, ED that is connected to another service-connected condition. A first decision, even a denial, is a starting point and not the end of the process. This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — it is not legal advice and not a VA decision about your claim.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 21,351 real Board appeals for Erectile dysfunction
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Erectile dysfunction was linked to service:
In appeals where Erectile dysfunction was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Board has determined that the Veteran's erectile dysfunction is secondary to his service-connected major depressive disorder, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
The Board has granted service connection for erectile dysfunction, which is secondary to the Veteran's service-connected diabetes mellitus type II and panic disorder with insomnia. The decision finds that the evidence is at least evenly balanced as to whether the erectile dysfunction was caused by these conditions.
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for residuals of prostate cancer due to VA's failure to notify him of his April 17, 2008, elevated PSA test results and its failure to timely diagnose and properly treat his disease.
The Board has granted service connection for prostate cancer, coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes mellitus type II (DM II), hypertension, and erectile dysfunction as secondary to service-connected DM II. The Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during active service is presumed.
The Veteran's right ankle sprain, lumbar strain, bilateral plantar fasciitis, headaches (tension), and erectile dysfunction are all granted as service connection. The Veteran's asthma is also granted as service connection. However, the Veteran's muscle pain/spasms do not meet VA compensation criteria.,Service connection for these conditions is based on their onset during or shortly after service.
The Veteran's tinnitus and erectile dysfunction are granted service connection, while hypertension is remanded. The decision also denies a compensable rating for migraine headaches.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Erectile dysfunction often look at outcomes for these too:
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