Scars Board decisions

The Board remands the claim for a compensable rating for status post umbilical hernia repair with scar due to an inadequate opinion regarding the Veteran's symptomatology.

The Board granted service connection for GERD, right shoulder tenosynovitis, and right upper extremity scars but denied service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The Board remands the veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU due to outstanding SSA disability benefit records.

The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date prior to August 10, 2022, for service-connected conditions as the October 2024 Supplemental Claim was not a valid appeal.

The appeal to restore the 50 percent rating for a scar of the middle and lower posterior neck with disfigurement was granted, while the claim for an increased rating for a painful scar of the lower posterior neck with failed skin graft and the claim for a higher rating for CAD were denied. The claim for CAD was remanded.

The Veteran's appeal for specially adapted housing and an automobile allowance was granted, while the claims for special monthly compensation based on aid and attendance and compensable ratings for lower extremity radiculopathies were denied.

The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date prior to August 10, 2022, for service-connected conditions as the October 2024 Supplemental Claim was not a valid appeal.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his lower extremity neuropathy and scar disabilities, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating.

The Board granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date and a higher initial rating, granting only a 40 percent evaluation for his lumbar spine disability.

The Board granted a 20 percent rating for right lower extremity (RLE) sciatic nerve radiculopathy from March 1, 2020, to August 4, 2020, and denied a rating in excess of 20 percent for thoracolumbar spine degenerative arthritis with stenosis during the same period. The Board also denied other claims including service connection for residuals of head injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI), an initial compensable rating for posterior trunk scar, and effective dates prior to November 1, 2020, for separate ratings for sciatic and femoral nerve radiculopathies.

The Board granted service connection for a right ankle disability but dismissed the appeals for hypothyroidism, bilateral tinnitus, and left-hand condition.

The Board denied an initial compensable disability rating for sinusitis and remanded the remaining service connection claims to correct a duty to assist error.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including migraines, tinnitus, sleep disorder, recurrent fainting, bowel condition, hysterectomy, ovarian cysts, scar tissue, miscarriage, fibroids, heavy menstruation, skin disorder, hair loss condition, and stiff-man syndrome, due to gaps in the Veteran's service treatment records and inadequate medical opinions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a neck disability and burn scars, finding that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and her military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an initial compensable rating for a scar, status-post varicocele excision and left scrotum varicocele excision, as well as special monthly compensation based on loss of use of a creative organ.

The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain, intervertebral disc syndrome, status post lumbar surgery, and associated radiculopathies of the lower extremities, as well as painful scars due to lower back surgery, effective July 17, 2018.

The Board denied a compensable rating for the Veteran's trunk scars, status post abdominal laparotomy and orchiectomy, as the evidence did not show that the scars met the criteria for a compensable rating.

The Board denied service connection for PTSD and a scar, left neck. The claims for insomnia, Dequervain's syndrome, right wrist, and Dequervain's syndrome and triangular fibrocartilaginous complex injury, left wrist, were remanded.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased evaluation for PTSD, service connection for bilateral hearing loss, and various other disorders due to a lack of evidence supporting their presence or relationship to military service.