The Board denied the veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 due to lack of evidence showing carelessness, negligence, or similar fault on the part of VA in providing the surgery.
The deciding factor: The Board found no indication of any carelessness, negligence, or similar instance of fault by VA in furnishing the veteran's surgical treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Partial loss of voice, Right true vocal cord paralysis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2005
- Citation
- 0503296
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,458 · Granted: 24% (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 0503296.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151, finding that his partial loss of voice was not caused by negligence or similar fault on the part of VA and was not an event not reasonably foreseeable.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the veteran is entitled to a rating of 60 percent for his right true vocal cord paralysis, which more nearly approximates aphonia (constant inability to speak above a whisper).
- Granted
The Board has determined that the veteran's right true vocal cord paralysis is a result of the cervical surgery performed at a VA facility in December 1997, which was reasonably foreseeable and caused by the care provided. As such, the claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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