The veteran's service-connected disabilities, including traumatic encephalopathy and skull defect, prevent him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment. The Board has determined that a total disability rating for compensation purposes based on individual unemployability is warranted.
The deciding factor: The veteran's combined disability rating of 90% meets the criteria for consideration of a TDIU rating under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a).
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of traumatic encephalopathy due to gunshot would, left lower extremity, skull defect, residuals of traumatic encephalopathy due to gunshot wound, left upper extremity (non-dominant extremity), Jacksonian epilepsy secondary to gunshot would
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 90%
- Decision date
- July 16, 2004
- Citation
- 0419089
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 0419089.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevent her from attending to the needs of nature, caring for herself, or protecting herself from the hazards of her environment. The Board has determined that she is in need of regular aid and attendance due to her service-connected conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not due to willful misconduct, but he did not meet the criteria for DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 as his service-connected disabilities were not rated at 100% disabling for a continuous period of at least one year prior to his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case for additional development, including obtaining service personnel records and medical evidence from Camp Lejeune. The appellant is also required to provide any relevant VA or private treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded due to the need for a VA examination and consideration of additional service connection claims. The case will be reconsidered after these steps are taken.
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