The Board has determined that the veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral eye disability is not well grounded, and thus denied. The claim of service connection for left shoulder disability is granted as there is competent medical evidence linking current symptoms to an injury noted during active duty.
The deciding factor: The record does not contain sufficient medical evidence to establish a current disability related to the veteran's reported incident in service that caused his vision problems, thus failing to meet one of the essential elements for service connection. The left shoulder disability claim is granted based on competent medical evidence linking current symptoms to an injury noted during active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Eye Disability, Left Shoulder Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 9, 2000
- Citation
- 0012177
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 0012177.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims for service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, a low back disability, a left knee disability, and a left shoulder disability as there was no evidence to support that these conditions were incurred in or caused by the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for further development and to ensure compliance with VA's duty to assist.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based upon individual unemployability (TDIU) exclusively due to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and special monthly compensation (SMC) based on housebound status from August 31, 2023.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and higher initial ratings for psychiatric, left shoulder, right hand tremors, left hand tremors, and allergic rhinitis disabilities.
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