The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render her unemployable, and she is able to secure and maintain substantially gainful employment.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has mobility issues due to her respiratory disabilities and some difficulty working due to her anxiety and depressed mood because of her PTSD. However, the medical evidence indicates that she is capable of sedentary employment and can work in a more sedentary environment without requiring strenuous exertion.
- Claimed conditions
- post-traumatic stress disorder, asthma with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), left and right ankle strain, bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 80%
- Decision date
- August 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19162283
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 19162283.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral foot disability, respiratory disability (breathing difficulty), cardiac disability (irregular heartbeat), and right hip disability as there was no evidence of a current disability or a link to active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a bilateral foot disability to obtain an addendum medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus was aggravated by service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headache attributed to RCVS and persistent thunderclap headache, restored a disability rating of 60 percent for asthma with COPD, denied an initial rating greater than 60 percent for asthma with COPD, denied an initial rating greater than 10 percent for RCVS and aphasia, granted separate ratings for muscle weakness in the upper and lower extremities due to RCVS, denied a higher rating for myocardial infarction with arteriosclerotic heart disease, granted TDIU from August 23, 2023, and granted an effective date of August 23, 2023, for DEA benefits.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple disabilities, including bilateral wrist, ankle, foot, shoulder, allergic rhinitis, sinusitis, lumbosacral spine, and carpal tunnel syndrome, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to active service.
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