The Veteran's claim for service connection for vertebral fracture is denied due to the character of discharge from other than honorable conditions.,Service connection for bilateral cataracts with pinguecula is also denied as there is no evidence linking these conditions to active duty service. The Board found that the Veteran’s right eye injury did not result in any residual disabilities and his current cataracts are age-related.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral cataracts with pinguecula, for the purpose of receiving VA health care benefits authorized by Chapter 17, is also denied.
The deciding factor: The character of discharge from other than honorable conditions bars VA compensation for this period of active duty service.,There is no evidence linking bilateral cataracts with pinguecula to the in-service right eye injury or any other incident during active duty service. The Veteran's current cataracts are age-related and not related to his military service.,The preponderance of evidence does not support granting service connection for bilateral cataracts with pinguecula, as there is no link between these conditions and the Veteran’s military service.
- Claimed conditions
- vertebral fracture, bilateral cataracts with pinguecula
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 30, 2020
- Citation
- A20017592
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 A20017592.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis, lumbar retrolisthesis, a vertebral fracture, and DDD (back disability), as well as right and left lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to the back disability. The decision is based on evidence showing an in-service fall causing a back injury that led to current diagnoses.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's vertebral fracture, claimed as fractured back, had its onset during active military service and is therefore granted service connection.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various back and neck conditions were denied. The claim for hypertension associated with herbicide exposure was remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further action due to new evidence submitted regarding the character of discharge, and also because these issues are intertwined with the decision on the character of discharge.
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