The veteran's disabilities do not prevent him from engaging in substantially gainful employment, and he is employed as a lab director at a water treatment plant. Therefore, his claim for a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes is denied.
The deciding factor: The veteran is currently employed full-time as a laboratory director, earning $27,000 annually, which exceeds the poverty threshold for one person.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder instability, degenerative joint disease (knee), muscular low back strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2001
- Citation
- 0100174
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 0100174.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence in some cases, and a new VA examination is needed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to the lack of a current disability. The appeal is remanded for further examination and medical opinions regarding spine disorder, infectious mononucleosis, left shoulder instability, right shoulder instability, and right lower extremity pain.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for left shoulder pain as there is no current diagnosis of a left shoulder disability and the Veteran's lay statements are not competent to diagnose such a complex medical condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate VA opinions and a need for further development.
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