The Board has determined that the Veteran's retinal detachment was proximately caused by his June 2002 VA surgery, which was performed without informed consent. Therefore, compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for the retinal detachment of the left eye is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's retinal detachment was proximately caused by his June 2002 VA surgery and that informed consent was not obtained, meeting one of the criteria for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151.
- Claimed conditions
- retinal detachment
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 12, 2019
- Citation
- A19000853
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (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 A19000853.
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 appeal for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for open angle glaucoma, retinal detachment, and cataract (eye disability) was denied as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were caused by VA's carelessness or negligence.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for special monthly compensation based on the need for aid and attendance and an earlier effective date for service connection of schizoaffective disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for open angle glaucoma, cataracts, and retinal detachment as there is no evidence linking these conditions to his military service or any in-service toxic exposure.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's left eye blindness is due to service-connected glaucoma and grants SMC based on loss of use of one eye.
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