Scars decisions — 2025

The Board granted service connection for a neck scar, dismissed the claim of entitlement to service connection for drug and alcohol abuse, and denied service connection for depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dizziness disorder, fatigue disorder, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, degenerative arthritis, left ankle arthritis, and left foot disorder.

The Board granted the Veteran's claim for an annual clothing allowance for 2021 for a left ankle brace but denied claims for right leg and skin medication.

The Veteran's PTSD alone prevents him from maintaining and securing substantially gainful employment, thus granting a TDIU for the purpose of establishing entitlement to special monthly compensation on a schedular housebound basis.

The Board granted a 10 percent disability rating for status post tendon repair of the left fifth finger and denied a compensable disability rating for linear scar of the left pinky finger, status post tendon repair.

The Board granted service connection for heart palpitations, bruxism, and bilateral dry eye, while denying service connection for the other conditions.

The veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection and rating issues, resulting in the dismissal of all claims.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for residual scars related to glass fragments and nonlinear scars of the back, as well as remanded a claim for peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity with myofascial pain syndrome.

The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grants of service connection and higher ratings, except for right lower extremity radiculopathy which was granted an effective date of October 24, 2022.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for a painful scar, right flank s/p lipoma removal, was granted from April 27, 2020, but his request for a higher rating for the same condition and for a scar, right flank s/p lipoma removal, was denied.

The Board granted a 10 percent rating for the Veteran's left brow scar and remanded the claim for a compensable rating for headaches.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus, dermatitis of bilateral shoulders, actinic keratosis (claimed as psoriasis), multiple lipomas, fibrous papule of the right thigh, and left upper extremity scar secondary to lipomas. Several claims were remanded.

The Board denied an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for a healed scar, cicatrices over the right thigh and remanded service connection for a psychiatric disorder.

The Board denied service connection for vertigo and remanded the claim for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) with residual scars due to inadequate medical opinions.

The Board granted service connection for paresthesia of a right index finger injury and a linear distal right index finger scar as secondary to the in-service injury.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a shell fragment wound of the left chest wall, entitlement to a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for scars, left chest wall, and entitlement to a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) for further development.

The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, left leg disability (meralgia paresthetica and radiculopathy), left eye disability (cataracts, other than scar), cardiac disability, and cervical spine disability.

The Board granted a 100 percent evaluation for the service-connected heart disability from July 1, 2020 to March 3, 2023 and denied evaluations in excess of 70 percent for PTSD, 10 percent for tinnitus, and no compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss. The claim for TDIU based solely on the service-connected heart disability was dismissed.

The Board denied service connection for gastroenteritis, myopia, and non-compensable ratings for tinea unguium and scar. The eye disability claim was remanded.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and an effective date of February 22, 2020, but denied service connection for erectile dysfunction, a compensable initial disability rating for hypertension, and a compensable disability rating for a right hand scar (painful).

The Veteran's claim for benefits under the Home Improvement and Structural Alterations (HISA) program to remodel the entrance of his home, including railings on both sides and replacement of carpet, was granted.