The Veteran's claim for service connection has been reopened, and the claims for multiple joint pains, right shoulder disability, back disability, right ankle disability, blindness (including light perception only), migraine headaches associated with TBI, and a disability of the tongue have all been granted. The effective date is not specified as it is prior to March 14, 2016.
The deciding factor: New evidence has been received that relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claims for service connection, including the Veteran's reports of in-service injuries and symptoms related to these conditions. The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding of current disabilities or a causal relationship with service.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple joint pains, Right shoulder disability, Back disability, Right ankle disability, Blindness (including light perception only), Migraine headaches associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI), Disability of the tongue
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- February 6, 2019
- Citation
- 19109239
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,454 · Granted: 23% (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 19109239.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection of a back disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between his current condition and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a back disability due to incomplete service records and failure to consider all available evidence, including in-service treatment records from F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
- Granted
The Veteran's rating for residuals status post lumbar fusion was reduced from 40 percent to 20 percent effective October 25, 2023. The reduction was granted as there was no evidence of actual improvement in the Veteran's condition prior to this date.
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