The veteran did not have loss of use of either lower extremity, and higher ratings for the other conditions were not warranted.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the veteran had some effective, albeit limited, use of his lower extremities, which does not equate to a complete loss of use as defined by regulation. For the other conditions, the criteria for higher ratings were not met based on the evidence available at the time of the veteran's death.
- Claimed conditions
- loss of use of both lower extremities, panic disorder without agoraphobia, right lower extremity peripheral vascular disease, left lower extremity peripheral vascular disease, irritable bowel syndrome, history of multiple transient ischemic attacks with cerebrovascular accident and residual aphasia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0905711
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,458 · Granted: 24% (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 0905711.
What this means for you
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