The Veteran's facial scars are rated at 30 percent, but the Board has remanded both his initial rating and effective date claims.
The deciding factor: The facial scars meet the criteria for a 30 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 7800 due to visible tissue loss on the nose tip with disfigurement. The case is being remanded for further development, including consideration of an extraschedular rating and assignment of an effective date prior to January 1, 2011.
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple Facial Scars, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Sebaceous Gland Hyperplasia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- March 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19116900
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19116900.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
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 denied a compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claim of entitlement to a compensable rating for residuals of squamous cell carcinoma due to inadequate examination.
- Granted
The Board has restored service connection for Ischemic Heart Disease, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Diabetes Mellitus type II, Chronic Kidney Disease, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower left extremity sciatic nerve, Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy of the lower right extremity sciatic nerve, and Hypertension. The Board found that the original grant of service connection was not clearly erroneous due to the Veteran's exposure along the DMZ in Korea.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's non-VA care on June 6, 2019 for a Squamous Cell Carcinoma was denied because it was not deemed emergent and prior authorization was required. The Board finds the decision insufficient to determine if the care was emergent and remands for proper notice under 38 U.S.C. § 5104.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected seborrhea with actinic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma was found to affect more than 40 percent of his entire body, warranting a 60% disability rating.
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