The veteran's claims for an increased rate of SMC and an earlier effective date were denied as the evidence did not support a higher rate or an earlier effective date.
The deciding factor: The veteran is already receiving SMC based on blindness in one eye and being housebound due to his service-connected PTSD. No additional factors warranting a higher rate or an earlier effective date have been established.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Claudication of left lower extremity, Claudication of right lower extremity, Left eye disorder, Diabetes, Calluses on left foot, Calluses on right foot, Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2008
- Citation
- 0816602
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,613 · Granted: 30% (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 0816602.
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.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to December 27, 2019 for the grant of service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no earlier claim document in the claims file and the Veteran did not timely perfect an appeal.
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