The Board has granted special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another person due to service-connected sarcoidosis, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to perform daily activities and protect him from hazards in his environment.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected sarcoidosis necessitates constant use of home oxygen, limits his ability to ambulate, and makes it dangerous for him to prepare meals due to his oxygen tank. He requires assistance with bathing, medication management, and meal preparation.
- Claimed conditions
- sarcoidosis, major depressive disorder, bilateral postoperative plantar callosities with clubbing of the toes of both feet, bilateral tinea pedis, bilateral clubbing of the fingers of both hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- May 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19138851
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 19138851.
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 Veteran's claim for specially-adapted housing assistance and a special home adaptation grant was denied because he does not meet the criteria for either benefit based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder has been dismissed as the appellant requested withdrawal of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran's service connection claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, should be remanded due to a failure to verify a stressor related to the death of his two best friends in Iraq. The AOJ needs to develop this stressor.
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