The Board denied higher ratings for the cervical spine, post-traumatic headaches, and deviated nasal septum. The Veteran's visual acuity in his left eye was 20/400, and he is legally blind in that eye; however, a remand is necessary to determine the severity of the nonservice-connected right eye.
The deciding factor: The criteria for higher ratings were not met based on the evidence provided. The Veteran's visual acuity did not meet the criteria for a higher rating, and there was no evidence of disfigurement or other characteristics that would warrant a compensable rating for his deviated nasal septum.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes of the cervical spine, Deviated nasal septum, Left cornea scar, Left eye posterior subcapsular cataract, status post retinal tear and ocular hypertension, Post-traumatic headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 24, 2009
- Citation
- 0910832
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 734 · Granted: 9% (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 0910832.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's post-traumatic headaches are currently rated at the maximum schedular rating of 50 percent, and there is no evidence to support a higher rating. The Board has determined that an extraschedular evaluation is not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's post-traumatic headaches are granted a 50 percent rating, but the Board has remanded his claim for service connection of OSA due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for post-traumatic headaches, PTSD with TBI, left non-dominant shoulder instability subluxation chronic with clavicle dislocation, recurrent dislocation, and cervical strain with muscle spasms were denied as the Veteran failed to appear at scheduled VA examinations without providing good cause.,The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for non-dominant shoulder instability subluxation chronic with clavicle dislocation and left non-dominant shoulder instability subluxation chronic with recurrent dislocation were also denied due to failure to appear at the scheduled VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied earlier effective dates for service connection of TBI, post-traumatic headaches, scars, and dizziness as secondary to TBI.,The appellant's disabilities were granted service connection as secondary to his TBI. The Board found no prior claims or communications that could serve as the basis for an earlier effective date.
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