The Board granted service connection for a left eye condition, to include defective vision with amblyopia, external strabismus, and exotropia, based on aggravation of a preexisting disability.
The deciding factor: The veteran's left eye disability increased in severity during his military service, and the increase was not due to the natural progress of the disease.
- Claimed conditions
- defective vision with amblyopia, external strabismus, exotropia
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2009
- Citation
- 0902168
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 0902168.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including knee and back pain, exotropia, GERD, and hemorrhoids, due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for astigmatism and exotropia to obtain a VA medical opinion regarding the etiology of his diagnosed eye conditions.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for a rating greater than 30 percent for his right-eye impairment to include blindness, exotropia, optic nerve pallor, cataract, presbyopia, retinal and macular scarring from October 22, 2008 is dismissed as moot because he is already in receipt of the 30 percent rating he sought.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's left eye condition, which includes blindness, exotropia, optic atrophy, and retinal detachment. The decision finds that these conditions are related to his in-service injury while playing basketball.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.