The Veteran was granted effective dates of August 5, 2014 for service connection and a disability rating for right shoulder arthritis, scar status post-surgical repair right shoulder, and post-surgical residuals right shoulder. The claims were denied for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disorder, left shoulder disorder, lung disorder, thyroid disorder, and headache disorder (secondary to service-connected disability).,The effective dates of August 5, 2014 are granted for the grants of service connection and a disability rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims were received on August 5, 2014. The RO granted service connection and a disability rating based on these claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Headache Disorder (secondary to service-connected disability), Heart Disorder, Left Shoulder Disorder, Lung Disorder, Right Shoulder Arthritis, Scar, Status Post-Surgical Repair Right Shoulder, Thyroid Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- May 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19135681
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19135681.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for increased evaluations and service connection are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions at the time of the June and August 2025 decisions. The cases will be returned to the AOJ for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the service connection claims for Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Heart Disorder due to a duty to assist error in obtaining opinions regarding whether these conditions are aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, right ankle disorder, and anxiety disorder due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for a heart disorder and OSA, as secondary to a heart disorder due to incomplete records and failure to consider all relevant in-service exposures. The Veteran's exposure to PFAS at Robins AFB is acknowledged, but further development is needed to address his COPD and smoking history.
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