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Whole decision: Denied

The veteran's claim for a certificate of eligibility for assistance in acquiring specially adapted housing or a special home adaptation grant was denied because the evidence did not show that he had loss or loss of use of at least one lower extremity, which is required to establish entitlement.

The deciding factor: The medical evidence showed that the veteran used a wheelchair and walker due to his psychiatric medications and a temporary vegetative state, but this does not constitute loss of use of a lower extremity as defined by VA regulations.

Claimed conditions
major depressive disorder with cognitive dysfunction, coronary artery disease status post myocardial infarction, degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, left clavicle fracture, anterior cruciate ligament deficiency of the right knee, left rib fracture, tinnitus, sinusitis status post septoplasty and left turbinectomy, left pneumothorax, excision of cancer lesion from left border of tongue, post-operative right axillary lymph node, post-operative thyroidectomy for adenoma
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
April 2, 2008
Citation
0810792

Veterans Law Judge

STEVEN D. REISS

Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 0810792.

What this means for you

A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.

What you can do next

Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).

Related decisions

Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.

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