The Veteran is entitled to compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for the excision of an ischiorectal fistula due to a lack of informed consent during VA treatment.
The deciding factor: There was insufficient evidence to establish that informed consent was provided prior to the 1981 surgery, and this failure to obtain informed consent resulted in additional disability.
- Claimed conditions
- excision of an ischiorectal fistula
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 26, 2009
- Citation
- 0911338
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,464 · Granted: 14% (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 0911338.
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 veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is being remanded due to the need for a further examination and opinion regarding informed consent, as well as consideration of VA regulations on informed consent.
- Denied
The Board denied compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for excision of an ischiorectal fistula due to the severing of the external sphincter, which was a foreseeable consequence of the surgery performed in 1981.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case to the RO for obtaining consent forms signed by the veteran for his medical procedures in 1981. The claim will be reconsidered based on this additional evidence.
- 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.
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