The Veteran's right leg below the knee amputation was granted a rating of 60 percent, effective from November 1, 2012. The Veteran's entitlement to SMC based on aid and attendance or housebound status was denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities alone did not result in him being blind, so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less, in both eyes, or requiring the regular aid and assistance of another person due to his service-connected disabilities. The Board found that he was not permanently bedridden.
- Claimed conditions
- Right below the knee amputation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- February 25, 2021
- Citation
- 21010609
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 21010609.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is entitled to an increased level of SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities, including renal insufficiency with nephrotic syndrome, left eye blindness, right below the knee amputation, anatomical loss of left foot status post above-the-knee amputation and loss of use of right hand, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, left upper extremity polyneuropathy (non-dominant), hypertension, erectile dysfunction, and diabetic retinopathy.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including a right leg amputation and degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, affect his ability to move without assistance. As such, he meets the criteria for a special home adaptation grant.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's right below the knee amputation was not attributable to VA's failure to diagnose and/or treat peripheral vascular disease (PVD) or Buerger's disease at an earlier date, and was a reasonably foreseeable event.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a right below the knee amputation and muscle graft, latissimus dorsis, left back as these conditions are not attributable to service or secondary to service-connected scar, gunshot wound to the right lower leg with retained foreign body.
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