The Veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than April 22, 2013 for the grant of service connection for photophobia is denied. The Board finds that there was no prior claim or entitlement to service connection for visual impairment.
The deciding factor: There was no formal or informal claim received by VA before April 22, 2013 for service connection for an eye or vision disability.
- Claimed conditions
- photophobia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19161927
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 19161927.
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 remands the claim for service connection of photophobia to obtain a new VA opinion that adequately addresses its etiology, including whether it is related to the Veteran's active duty or secondary to his service-connected psychiatric condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings, finding that the evidence did not support a compensable disability rating or service connection for any of the claimed conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for panic disorder/obsessive compulsive disorder, irritable bowel syndrome/functional abdominal pain syndrome/abdominal pain & bloating, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), sleep apnea, photophobia, tinnitus, and tremors of the hands.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral knee injury, head injury, photophobia, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenia to allow VA to obtain potentially relevant Social Security Administration records.
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