The Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 10 percent for scars of the head and an effective date prior to December 22, 2017 for service connection for scars of the head have both been denied by the Board.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not meet the criteria for a higher disability rating under Diagnostic Code 7800 or for an earlier effective date based on lack of supporting medical evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- scars of the head
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 2, 2020
- Citation
- A20017803
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,020 · Granted: 19% (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 A20017803.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of March 28, 2023 for the award of a 50 percent rating for chronic headaches and a 10 percent rating for scars of the head, but denied ratings in excess of these amounts. The Board also granted service connection for painful scars of the head with an effective date of March 28, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands all service connection claims for further development, specifically to provide the veteran with adequate VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The appeal is remanded because the VA did not provide the veteran with a copy of their medical examination report before making a decision. The case will be reviewed again after the veteran receives this document.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for vertigo and remanded the other issues on appeal.
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