Scars decisions — 2022

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to address the Veteran's claims, including obtaining medical opinions regarding his diabetes mellitus and service connection for various disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left foot disability and right foot disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between these conditions and his military service.

The Veteran's scar residual of the right breast has been granted a 10 percent rating effective from July 22, 2021. The Board found that the scar was painful and intermittently affected by overhead work but did not affect functioning or cause any disability.

The Veteran's appeals for a compensable rating for headaches and entitlement to total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) have been dismissed. The appeal for a compensable rating for shell fragment wound scars, sacrum (mid lower back), left buttock, left inguinal area, and right posterior thigh is REMANDED.

The Veteran's claims for higher disability ratings for his service-connected acne scars affecting the face and neck, anterior trunk, and posterior trunk are being remanded due to a need for additional examinations and consideration of new evidence.

The Veteran's appeals have been dismissed due to her withdrawal of the appeal, as requested by both herself and her representative.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right hip disability, left tibia surgical scar, and right hip area surgical scar do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating under applicable diagnostic codes. The case is being remanded to obtain additional information regarding the severity of the Veteran's post-operative bone tumor removal, left tibia with bone graft.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD and acne scars, render him unable to secure or maintain substantially gainful employment due to his mental health conditions.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The hernia disability, abdominal scar, fibromyalgia, acquired psychiatric disability (pending), left shoulder disability (pending), right shoulder disability (pending), left arm disability (pending), right arm disability (pending), left elbow disability (pending), right elbow disability (pending), disability of the small finger, left hand (pending), cervical spine disability (pending), left ankle disability (pending), right ankle disability (pending), left foot skin disability (pending), and right foot skin disability (pending) were not granted. The Veteran's claims for service connection for sinus disability (pending), bilateral eye disability (pending), disability of the left eye cornea (pending), bilateral hearing loss disability (pending), tinnitus (pending), vertigo (pending), headaches (pending), and sleep apnea (pending) are pending.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for his service-connected scar has been denied. The effective dates for the awards of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability and for the right knee scar have also been denied.,Claims for service connection for skin cancer, hypothyroidism, neck/cervical spine disability, and headaches are remanded.

The Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for the award of a separate compensable rating for left wrist tenosynovitis is denied. The Board has also remanded his claim for a higher rating for painful surgical scar, left wrist.

Service connection for high cholesterol is dismissed.,Entitlement to an effective date earlier than April 17, 2017, for service connection for status post left shoulder joint replacement (non-dominant), including degenerative arthritis, is denied.,Entitlement to an effective date earlier than April 17, 2017, for service connection for a left shoulder surgical scar is denied.,Entitlement to an effective date earlier than April 17, 2017, for service connection for hypertension is denied.,New and material evidence has not been submitted to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for a knee disability. The petition to reopen is denied.,Service connection for sleep apnea is denied.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to new evidence submitted after a Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC).

The Board denied the Veteran's appeal because his May 2016 substantive appeal was not timely filed, as it came in over 100 days after the appeals period ended. The presumption of regularity in mailing the SOC has not been rebutted.

The Veteran's right hand scars are currently evaluated as noncompensable due to the lack of an area or areas meeting the criteria for a compensable rating.,The Veteran's right foot fracture residuals have been granted a 20 percent rating, subject to further review and remand if necessary.,Bilateral hearing loss has not met the criteria for a compensable rating based on current evidence.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The Board found that the Veteran had a thymic cyst of the left vocal cord, which resulted in residual scars and migraine headaches. Service connection was not granted for hypertension or erectile dysfunction.

The Board has remanded the case due to issues with earlier effective date for service connection of painful scar in the anterior trunk associated with splenectomy and service connection for left lower extremity osteopenia.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The TBI claim was denied as the evidence did not support a higher rating, while the migraine headaches, shrapnel scar in the right leg, and superficial shell fragment wound of the forehead claims were all denied due to lack of supporting evidence.

The Veteran's right knee scars were rated at 20 percent since April 30, 2020. The Board found that the scars did not meet criteria for a higher rating as they were not associated with underlying soft tissue damage and did not cover an area of 144 square inches or more.

The Veteran's hallux valgus of the right and left feet, along with associated degenerative arthritis and plantar fasciitis, have been granted increased ratings. However, her scars from bunionectomies are being referred for extraschedular consideration.,A TDIU claim is also being remanded to determine if the Veteran was working part-time due to service-connected disabilities prior to December 13, 2019.