The Board denied earlier effective dates for service connection and higher initial disability ratings, as the earliest possible effective date of September 26, 2012, was assigned.
The deciding factor: There were no communications received prior to September 26, 2012 that could be construed as a formal or informal claim for the conditions in question, and thus the earliest possible effective date was legally assigned.
- Claimed conditions
- right lower extremity scars, left lower extremity scars, acquired psychiatric disorder (unspecified depressive disorder), muscle injury residuals from a gunshot wound to the right leg, muscle injury residuals from a gunshot wound to the left leg, right foot metatarsalgia, bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 4, 2021
- Citation
- 21061456
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date, service connection for bilateral hearing loss, and service connection for insomnia.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for bilateral tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss, resulting in their dismissal.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and remanded the claims for bilateral tinnitus, right knee osteoarthritis, and left knee osteoarthritis due to inadequate medical evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims for earlier effective dates and remanded several service connection claims.
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