The Board denied an earlier effective date for the award of Total Disability Rating Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) because the increase in disability was not ascertainable more than one year prior to the date of the application.
The deciding factor: An ascertainable increase in disability occurred more than one year before the claim, making it ineligible for an earlier effective date under 38 U.S.C.A. § 5110(b)(2).
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral knee disabilities, psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2003
- Citation
- 0336897
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 0336897.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a mental health condition, to include adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected back injury, and bilateral knee disabilities, also as secondary to the service-connected back injury.
- Granted
The Board granted the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected bilateral foot and knee disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of a psychiatric disability to correct an error in not securing an adequate medical opinion.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, headaches, and a psychiatric disorder. The evaluation in excess of 10 percent for the skin disability was also denied.
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