The Board has determined that a 40 percent rating is warranted for the veteran's residuals of a shrapnel wound to the left thigh, reflecting severe impairment of muscle group XIV.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence demonstrated severe impairment of muscle group XIV due to the veteran's service-connected shrapnel wound, warranting the highest schedular evaluation under Diagnostic Code 5314.
- Claimed conditions
- shrapnel wound to the left thigh
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- May 5, 2003
- Citation
- 0308419
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,055 · Granted: 31% (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 0308419.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of a shrapnel wound to the left thigh, as well as his requests to reopen claims for defective vision and a right hand condition. The decision also noted that the Veteran withdrew appeals regarding earlier effective dates for certain awards.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected residuals of a shrapnel wound to the left thigh, with a retained foreign body involving Muscle Group XIII is being remanded due to incomplete information from the April 2011 VA examination.
- Denied
The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, but finds that there is no competent medical evidence to support a relationship between the Veteran's service-connected left thigh disability and his death. As such, the claim is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 10 percent for the service-connected residuals of a shrapnel wound to the left thigh, with a retained foreign body involving Muscle Group XIII is being remanded due to inadequate discussion and need for further examination.
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