The veteran's right eye disability has not been found to be more severe than a rating of 30 percent, and his left eye disorder is unrelated to service or his service-connected right eye condition.
The deciding factor: The September 2008 VA examiner opined that the veteran's left eye vision loss was unrelated to his service-connected right eye disability and likely due to normal aging processes. The evidence does not support a rating in excess of 30 percent for the right eye disability based on corrected visual acuity levels.
- Claimed conditions
- Blindness, right eye, light perception only, Left eye disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2009
- Citation
- 0901619
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for hearing loss, abdominal pain, and a left eye disorder was dismissed due to untimely filing of the Notice of Disagreement. The appeals for other conditions were denied based on lack of evidence linking them to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the Veteran's blindness, finding that it was a reasonably foreseeable complication of his VA heart surgery. The claim for service connection for peripheral artery disease was remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is granted as incurred in service. The left ear hearing loss and left eye disorder are denied as not related to service.
- Denied
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.
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