The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for head injury, traumatic brain injury; psychiatric disability other than schizoaffective disorder; and an initial compensable rating for left index finger scar. The Board found no current residuals of a TBI or evidence of a psychiatric disability other than schizoaffective disorder. The left index finger scar was rated as noncompensable due to lack of painful or unstable characteristics.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence did not support the existence of current disabilities for which service connection could be granted, and the Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for his left index finger scar was denied based on the absence of painful or unstable characteristics of the scar.
- Claimed conditions
- head injury, traumatic brain injury (TBI), psychiatric disability other than schizoaffective disorder, left index finger scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19182095
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 399 · Granted: 41% (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 19182095.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, lumbar spine disability, right hand disability, left hip disability, TBI, and left knee disability have all been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection for any of these conditions.,Specifically, the VA examination in December 2019 determined that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus were not related to his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection on multiple conditions have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of the appeal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to a failure by the AOJ to obtain his complete service personnel records and service treatment records, which were received prior to the issuance of the decision on appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim of service connection for dizziness, TBI, MDD, and anxiety disorder is granted as new evidence has been received. The claims are remanded to obtain VA examinations.
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