The Veteran's left eye vision loss is considered a congenital defect and not a disease or injury for VA compensation purposes, thus service connection cannot be granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left eye vision loss is a congenital defect and not a disease or injury within the meaning of applicable legislation relating to service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- left eye vision loss, refractive error
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185492
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claims for various conditions due to a lack of compliance with previous remand directives and inadequate medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an eye disorder, including refractive error, as the evidence did not support a causal relationship between the Veteran's current condition and his active service.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus and a compensable rating for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, but found that new and relevant evidence had been received to reopen the claim for service connection for right hand arthritis. The claims for entitlement to service connection for left eye vision loss and TDIU were remanded.
- Granted
The veteran's claim for service connection of a vision disability, including glaucoma, astigmatism, refractive error, and presbyopia, is granted. The Board found that the onset of these conditions was during active duty.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.