The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a chronic skin disorder and residuals of shrapnel wounds to the back, right hand, and legs. The claim for an increased disability rating for PTSD was granted with a 50% rating effective from May 16, 1996.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support service connection for the claimed conditions due to lack of in-service incidents or current disabilities consistent with herbicide exposure or secondary to service-connected PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic skin disorder, residuals of shrapnel wounds to the back, right hand and legs
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2002
- Citation
- 0216885
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0216885.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected chronic skin disorder is denied as there was no increase in severity within the one-year period prior to his June 21, 2018, claim.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions and missing private treatment records. The Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic skin disorder, which includes morphea, is pending.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for a chronic skin disorder, an initial schedular compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, and an initial schedular rating in excess of 30 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder were all denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support these claims.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for hypertension, erectile dysfunction, hematuria, and chronic skin disorder due to incomplete or insufficient opinions in previous examinations. The claims are being returned for further development.
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