The Veteran's deviated nasal septum is rated as noncompensable, and the right tibia disability remains denied. The Board finds a duty to assist error occurred in the July 2020 rating decision for the right tibia issue.
The deciding factor: The July 2020 VA examination did not provide an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's right tibia symptoms result in functional impairment of earning capacity, which is required by Saunders v. Wilkie (2018).
- Claimed conditions
- deviated nasal septum, right tibia disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 9, 2022
- Citation
- A22024967
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation A22024967.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable disability rating for the Veteran's deviated nasal septum, finding that there were no compensable symptoms and that the evidence did not support a higher rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's deviated nasal septum was granted service connection. The claims for anxiety and sleep disturbance, erectile dysfunction, headaches, acid reflux, hypertension (high blood pressure), irritable bowel syndrome, and jaw condition were denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities alone are of sufficient severity to produce unemployability, meeting the schedular criteria for a TDIU throughout the appeal period. However, conflicting work history makes it impossible to determine his employment status during the period on appeal.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected deviated nasal septum did not meet the criteria for a compensable disability rating, as it did not result in 50-percent obstruction of the nasal passage on both sides or complete obstruction on one side. Therefore, the appeal is denied.
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