The Board has determined that the veteran's brachial plexopathy, resulting from a total right shoulder arthroplasty at a VA facility in March 2000, was not caused by willful misconduct and is due to an unforeseeable event occurring during VA surgical treatment. As such, the requirements for compensation benefits pursuant to 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 have been met.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the brachial plexus injury was not foreseeable given the rare nature of this complication and the informed consent provided prior to the surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- brachial plexopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 11, 2002
- Citation
- 0214240
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 0214240.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded due to the need for a retrospective medical opinion on the combined effects of his service-connected disabilities, as VA did not obtain such an opinion in the original decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to insufficient examination and new evidence being added to the record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's brachial plexopathy is being remanded for a VA examination to determine if it was proximately caused by his October 2014 cardiac surgery at the Portland VAMC.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for clarification of an examiner's opinion regarding carelessness, negligence or lack of skill during the Veteran's total shoulder replacement surgery.
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