The Board denied compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for a left eye disorder because the Veteran's additional disability was not caused by VA carelessness, negligence, or similar instance of fault.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show that VA treatment resulted in an additional disability and there was no evidence of actual causation or proximate cause (negligence and reasonable foreseeability).
- Claimed conditions
- left eye retinal detachment, reduced visual acuity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19148465
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19148465.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left eye condition, including his diagnosed left eye retinal detachment, is related to service and granted entitlement to service connection.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for left eye retinal detachment, finding that it was not related to his exposure to herbicide agents or his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's left eye disability is related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II (DMII).
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for a left eye disability due to service-connected seizures, as there is conflicting medical opinion regarding whether the retinal detachment was caused or aggravated by his epilepsy.
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