The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a left below the knee amputation as secondary to his service-connected disability of an old fracture, left lower tibia and ankle with mal-alignment and eversion of foot, and also denied his claim for an increased evaluation for residuals of an old fracture, left lower tibia and ankle. The Board found that there was no reasonable possibility that the veteran's amputation was related to service or his service-connected disability.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish a direct link between the veteran's service-connected disability and his current condition, nor could it be determined if the amputation was due to exposure to any specific agent or event during service.
- Claimed conditions
- left below the knee amputation, old fracture, left lower tibia and ankle
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 5, 2003
- Citation
- 0308454
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 0308454.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The appeals seeking an effective date prior to November 8, 2011, for the award of a TDIU rating and an effective date prior to November 8, 2011, for the award of basic eligibility to DEA are dismissed.,Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 60 percent for left below the knee amputation is denied. The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not satisfy the criteria for SMC at the (o) rate, the maximum rate authorized under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(p), or SMC at the rate intermediate between the rates authorized under (n) and (o) and SMC at the (k) rate.,Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for amputation of the right second toe from October 29, 2012, to November 14, 2012, is denied. The Veteran underwent a right below the knee amputation due to non-healing of his right second toe.
- Granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for the grants of service connection for diabetes mellitus, Type II, diabetic retinopathy, and diabetic nephropathy, as well as awards of service connection for various peripheral neuropathies and amputations.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU claim was granted effective August 15, 2014. The VA also awarded eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits effective the same date.,An earlier effective date of August 15, 2014, was granted for both the TDIU and DEA benefits due to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 due to concerns about medication use and blood circulation issues that may have contributed to his amputations.
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