The Board finds that the Veteran's loss of sight in his left eye was caused by a delay in treatment for a detached retina, resulting in total blindness. The Board concludes that VA did not exercise the degree of care expected from a reasonable health care provider and thus negligence on VA's part is established.
The deciding factor: The IME concluded that prompt surgical repair at the time the Veteran first presented may have stabilized the eye but his visual acuity was already markedly diminished, leading to total vision loss even with prompt treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Eye Detached Retina
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 1, 2013
- Citation
- 1307085
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 1307085.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's left eye detached retina was granted a rating of 30 percent prior to July 14, 2011. A higher rating is denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's left eye disability, including blindness of the left eye, was not caused by VA carelessness, negligence, or similar fault. The additional vision loss is attributed to his pre-existing conditions and subsequent surgeries.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for disability benefits pursuant to 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 due to the natural progression of his detached left retina, which occurred after he delayed seeking medical attention and underwent multiple surgeries at VA facilities in 1993.
- 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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