The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 (2012) for left below the knee amputation due to septic thrombophlebitis has been reopened and granted.
The deciding factor: New evidence, including opinions from a private physician and a VA infectious disease specialist, established that the Veteran's additional disability was caused by an injection performed at a VA facility, which resulted in septic thrombophlebitis and ultimately left below the knee amputation. The proximate cause of this event was not reasonably foreseeable.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Below the Knee Amputation
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19125530
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,515 · Granted: 20% (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 19125530.
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 granted service connection for PVD affecting both lower extremities and left and right below the knee amputations. The Veteran's hypertension is also rated at the initial 10 percent level.
- Denied
The Board finds that the staph infection and left below the knee amputation were not caused by VA's negligence or carelessness, and thus compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 is denied.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the VA procedure to remove a cyst from the left ovary in April 2005 proximately caused the Veteran's subsequent left below the knee amputation, and this event was not reasonably foreseeable. Therefore, the criteria for VA compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 are met.
- Denied
The veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD and left below the knee amputation due to a cold injury sustained in service were denied as there is no current medical diagnosis of PTSD, and no evidence linking the cold injury to the left lower extremity resulting in an amputation.
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