The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his right elbow disability has been granted with a 40% rating effective from April 4, 2011. The earlier effective date request was denied as the evidence did not show that an increase in disability occurred within one year prior to the filing of the claim.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for temporal lobe syndrome has been reopened due to new and material evidence provided since the January 2011 Board decision. The issue is now pending further review.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the last denial supports a secondary service connection theory, which was not previously considered.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of injury and arthrotomy, right elbow, right hand arthritis (with numbness and pain of two fingers), degenerative joint/disc disease of lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- January 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19100653
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 19100653.
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 Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Granted
The Veteran's major depressive disorder is found to be caused by his service-connected low back and radiculopathy disabilities, which prevent him from doing enjoyable activities and daily living tasks.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his active service or any related exposure.
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