The Veteran's claims of service connection for arthritis of the lumbar spine and right ankle disability, as well as his increased ratings for PTSD, right ankle disability, seizure disorder, and TBI were denied. The effective date for the award of a total rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) was not earlier than April 29, 2002.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no clear and unmistakable error in the failure to grant service connection for a 'skull defect' at the time of his original claim. The Veteran's claims were remanded for further development regarding these issues.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the lumbar spine, right ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- September 22, 2016
- Citation
- 1637308
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 1637308.
What this means for you
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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 Veteran's claims for left, right ankle disabilities, left and right hip disabilities, left and right shin splints, and left and right knee disabilities due to inadequate nexus opinions in the VA examination reports. The Veteran contends that her current disabilities are related to injuries sustained during basic training.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to new evidence received, and a need for additional medical opinions considering the Veteran's military occupation as a water safety survival instructor.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for effective dates and initial ratings have been dismissed due to the withdrawal of his appeal by his representative.
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