The Board grants the claim of service connection for retinitis pigmentosa, which was first manifested during the veteran's second period of active service.
The deciding factor: The progression of the disease was caused by or a result of the natural history of the disease and was not due to or a result of his military service. However, the Board finds that there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding the merits of the issue, and under the 'benefit-of-the-doubt' rule, the veteran shall prevail upon the issue.
- Claimed conditions
- retinitis pigmentosa, senile cataracts, refractive error
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2008
- Citation
- 0816552
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 0816552.
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the motion to revise a 1968 rating decision denying service connection for retinitis pigmentosa due to the Veteran's death.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection and rating increases in multiple disabilities, including chronic fatigue syndrome, radiculopathies, refractive error, cervical spine disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability. The Board has dismissed these appeals.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal of the January 2013 denial of service connection for myopic astigmatism with senile cataracts, bilateral eyes was dismissed due to non-compliance with claims processing rules.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and compensation under 38 U.S.C. 1151 due to an alleged missing Notice of Disagreement (NOD) filed in January 2016, which was sent in response to a notification letter dated October 2015.
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