The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for total disability due to individual unemployability for the period prior to March 7, 2011 based on his service-connected rheumatic heart disease and left knee degenerative changes.
The deciding factor: The severity of the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation for the period prior to March 7, 2011.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatic heart disease, left knee degenerative changes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2020
- Citation
- 20073963
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.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatic heart disease was granted. The claim for hypertensive vascular disease was remanded.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for left knee degenerative changes was granted as secondary to service-connected right ankle tendonitis. The claim for eye disability was remanded for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right ear hearing loss and denied initial ratings in excess of 10 percent or 20 percent for various conditions, including left ear hearing loss, hypertension, GERD, cervical spine degenerative joints with herniated nucleus pulposus, lumbar spine herniated nucleus pulpous with radiculitis down posterior leg, right knee effusion/degenerative changes, left knee degenerative changes, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected rheumatic heart disease renders him unemployable and he is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
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