The Board denied an increased rating for the veteran's service-connected residuals of a fracture of the right zygoma, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating due to lack of bone loss and no active infections or other complications.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence showed no loss of bone matter from the initial injury and no active infections, thus preventing an increased rating in excess of 10 percent under Diagnostic Code 5296.
- Claimed conditions
- fracture of the right zygoma, trigeminal neuralgia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2004
- Citation
- 0402991
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 0402991.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted initial ratings of 30 percent for trigeminal neuralgia and 40 percent for both left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, but denied an increased rating for contact dermatitis. An earlier effective date was also granted for the right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the appeal for further development, including obtaining relevant private treatment records and reexamining service-connected residuals of TBI.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a headache disability to include trigeminal neuralgia; temple headaches; non intractable headaches, unspecified chronicity pattern; unspecified headache type; migraines; and temporal arteritis as further development is required.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for trigeminal neuralgia, resolving the benefit of the doubt in favor of the Veteran.
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