A higher 20 percent rating is granted for the Veteran's right foot disability, effective September 2013. The claim for restoration of a 100 percent rating for arteriosclerotic heart disease is also granted from March 2015. Service connection for loss of teeth due to an MVA during service is denied.
The deciding factor: The reduction in the rating for the Veteran's heart disease was improper and void ab initio, so his 100 percent rating is reinstated effective March 2015.
- Claimed conditions
- right foot disability, loss of teeth
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- December 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19191297
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19191297.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for compensation under 38 USC § 1151 for loss of teeth, and the appeal is dismissed.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him so helpless as to require the regular aid and attendance of another person, but his service-connected persistent depressive disorder alone rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted SMC at the housebound rate.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple disabilities, including neck, back, left foot, left knee, right knee, right foot, and right shoulder disabilities. The Board found insufficient evidence to support presumptive or secondary service connection.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for lumbar spine, cervical spine, right knee, left knee, right foot, left foot, and right ankle disabilities. The evidence does not support a finding that these conditions began during or are otherwise related to his military service.
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