The VA denied the veteran's claim for an increased initial evaluation of his postoperative disruption of the sternum with displacement of several ribs, assigning a 20 percent evaluation effective October 28, 1999. The disability is evaluated under Diagnostic Code 5099-5025.
The deciding factor: The veteran's symptomatology did not meet the criteria for higher evaluations based on constant or nearly constant pain and refractory therapy as required by Diagnostic Code 5099-5025.
- Claimed conditions
- Postoperative disruption of the sternum with displacement of several ribs
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 13, 2003
- Citation
- 0308983
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0308983.
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- Granted
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