The Board denied service connection for residuals of head and thumb injuries, finding them to be the result of the veteran's own misconduct. Service connection was granted for osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine with a rating in excess of 20 percent not being warranted.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's head injury and left thumb injury were caused by his willful misconduct, resulting from intoxication. The low back disability was secondary to service-connected right and left knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of head injury, Residuals of left thumb injury, Osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 20, 2000
- Citation
- 0019067
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 0019067.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to readjudicate his claims for service connection for PTSD (claimed as schizophrenia), headaches, and schizophrenia. The claim for memory loss and residuals of head injury remains denied due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of January 21, 2016, for the grant of service connection for unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorder, and a 50 percent disability rating for posttraumatic migraine headaches.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for scars of the right forehead, left lateral eye, and right upper lip. The acquired psychiatric disorder, residuals of head injury, headaches, bilateral eye disability, and low back disorder are all denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for residuals of head injury has been denied by the Board. The disability is currently rated as zero percent, and the evidence does not support an increase in this rating.
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