The veteran's claim for a permanent and total disability rating for VA pension purposes was denied due to his failure to report for scheduled examinations without explanation, and the evidence did not show that his innocently acquired disabilities rendered him permanently and totally disabled.
The deciding factor: The veteran failed to appear for scheduled VA examinations without providing an adequate reason, which resulted in a lack of evaluation for certain conditions. The evidence also showed significant disability due to chronic drug and alcohol abuse, which is considered willful misconduct for pension purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability (degenerative joint and disc disease), psychiatric disability (post-traumatic stress disorder and depression), gastrointestinal disability (peptic ulcer disease)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2003
- Citation
- 0304351
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,599 · Granted: 37% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0304351.
What this means for you
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- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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