The Board found that the original grant of service connection for a bilateral eye disability arising from the Veteran's in-service eye surgery was clearly and unmistakably erroneous because his low visual acuity existed prior to service. The residuals of the PRK surgery, including bilateral dry eye syndrome, cannot be service connected.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not reflect that the Veteran’s low visual acuity was aggravated by service, as it remained at the same level during the first three years of service until he had it corrected by way of the PRK surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral eye disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2018
- Citation
- 18141375
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 18141375.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral eye disability, finding no evidence that the condition was incurred in or caused by service and noting that it is not related to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a bilateral eye disability, a bilateral foot disability, and a skin disability of the feet, to include the left first toenail, due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a bilateral eye disability, and a bilateral knee disability due to missing VA treatment records.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a bilateral eye disability as secondary to service-connected disabilities but denied service connection for muscle atrophy/weakness.
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