The Board denied an increased rating for the shrapnel wound scar on mandible with retained foreign body, but granted a separate noncompensable disability rating for neuralgia of the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's well-healed, superficial scar is not disfiguring and does not warrant an increased rating. However, he has mild neuralgia that manifests in soft tissue tenderness on palpation and some soft tissue fullness, which warrants a separate noncompensable rating.
- Claimed conditions
- shrapnel wound scar on mandible with retained foreign body, neuralgia of the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0908049
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 0908049.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a medical examination to determine the current condition of the veteran's mandible disability and to clarify whether separate ratings should be assigned for the scar and neurological damage.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
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- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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