The Board denied the Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation (SMC) on account of the loss of use of both lower extremities, finding that his peripheral neuropathy did not meet the criteria for such benefits.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran had not lost the use of either foot and opined that amputation with prosthetics would increase his disability. The Board agreed with this assessment.
- Claimed conditions
- Peripheral neuropathy of left lower extremity, Peripheral neuropathy of right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004831
Veterans Law Judge
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 20004831.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's SMC was granted at the intermediate level between 38 U.S.C. § 1114(m) and (n) due to additional disabilities including peripheral neuropathies, tinnitus, hearing loss, and lymphoma.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is granted service connection as it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury.,The Veteran's left and right lower extremity neuropathy are also granted service connection as they are due to his service-connected back condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded to obtain a TERA memorandum and medical opinions addressing the Veteran's claimed conditions, including diabetes mellitus, renal failure, peripheral neuropathy of both lower extremities, and an acquired psychiatric disorder, in relation to his service and exposure to toxic substances.
- Denied
The Board finds that the Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities is not related to service, including herbicide agent exposure in Thailand.
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