The Board found that the appellant's claim for service connection for a birth defect manifested by speech impairment and gait dysfunction is not well grounded due to lack of medical evidence showing aggravation or increase in disability during active service.
The deciding factor: The appellant did not present competent medical evidence showing an increase in disability of his pre-existing birth defects (speech impairment and gait dysfunction) during active service.
- Claimed conditions
- speech impairment, gait dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2000
- Citation
- 0007343
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0007343.
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- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected speech impairment is currently rated as noncompensable due to the absence of paralysis affecting the twelfth cranial nerve, and there is no evidence of any clinical findings or treatment for such.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for head injury due to an inadequate medical opinion that failed to consider the Veteran's reported symptoms.
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