The Board denied the Veteran's request for an equipment purchase of an adjustable king or queen size bed and ergonomic chair through the Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment (VR&E) program, finding that such purchases were not necessary to achieve his independent living goal.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show that the requested items were necessary for the Veteran to independently perform activities of daily living due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- depression, head trauma with residuals (including brain damage), behavior modification, cognitive deficits, migraine headaches, cervical degenerative joint disease, residuals of cold injury to the left foot, residuals of cold injury to the right foot, left shoulder rotator cuff tendonitis with labral tear and osteoarthritis, right upper extremity carpal tunnel syndrome, left upper extremity radiculopathy, right wrist sprain, left and right ankle degenerative arthritis, hemorrhoids, forehead scar, surgical scar of the right upper extremity, posttraumatic stress disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 19, 2020
- Citation
- 20054874
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 20054874.
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 has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to July 1, 2016. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating due to occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity. For TDIU, the Veteran had multiple service-connected disabilities but his education and work experience were sufficient for sedentary or light labor employment.
- Granted
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to September 27, 2017. From September 27, 2017, the rating for depression increased to 70 percent.
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