The Board has determined that an effective date of August 13, 2018 is granted for the award of a separate rating for anterior trunk scar. The Veteran's claim was reviewed on the initiative of VA and thus, the effective date will be fixed in accordance with the facts found but shall not be earlier than the date of increase.
The deciding factor: The effective date for the award of a separate rating for anterior trunk scar is set at August 13, 2018 due to the liberalizing change in VA regulations regarding scars and the Veteran's claim being reviewed on the initiative of VA within one year from that date.
- Claimed conditions
- Anterior trunk scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2023
- Citation
- 23047527
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 23047527.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has restored service connection for hypertension, chronic kidney disease and renal insufficiency, arteriosclerotic heart disease, tonic-clonic seizures or grand mal epilepsy, and anterior trunk scar due to clear and unmistakable error in the original award of service connection.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for her service-connected scars and migraines, finding that the evidence did not support higher disability ratings.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date, a higher rating for PTSD, and a compensable rating for left ankle arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of August 31, 2010 for the award of service connection for an anterior trunk scar and denied higher ratings for CAD and a sternum scar. The decision also remanded several claims related to earlier effective dates.
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