The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for a right eye disability, including cataracts, finding that his current disabilities are not at least as likely as not related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no link between the appellant’s in-service injury and his current diagnosed conditions of age-related macular degeneration, pseudophakia (due to senile cataract), and convergence insufficiency with hypertropia. The Board assigned more probative weight to these medical opinions than to the appellant's lay assertions.
- Claimed conditions
- right eye cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, pseudophakia (due to senile cataract), convergence insufficiency with hypertropia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19180865
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right eye retinal detachment and remanded the claims for right eye cataracts and choroidal hemangioma for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a right eye injury, including cataracts, macular degeneration, and blepharitis, as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between these conditions and his in-service right eye injury.
- Denied
The Board denied reimbursement for unauthorized private medical expenses incurred in February and March 2010 for right eye cataracts treatment because the care was not rendered due to a medical emergency, and the underlying condition (right eye cataracts) was not caused or aggravated by a service-connected disability.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a macular eye hole, a rating in excess of 10 percent for mental health to include sleep dysfunctions (nightmares), and TDIU prior to February 1, 2018. The evidence did not establish that his currently diagnosed conditions were related to or aggravated by service.
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