The Board denied the Veteran's requests for earlier effective dates for both the award of service connection and the assignment of a 30 percent rating for left eye disability. The effective date for the award of service connection was determined to be April 19, 2004, which is later than when entitlement arose due to the Veteran not filing an informal claim or written intent to file before that date. For the 30 percent rating, the Board found that entitlement did not arise prior to February 17, 2015, as there was no evidence of a 10/200 visual acuity, concentric contraction of left eye visual field with remaining field of 5 degrees, or diplopia/double vision to central 20 degrees before that date.
The deciding factor: The effective dates for the award of service connection and the assignment of a 30 percent rating were determined based on when entitlement arose rather than when the disability was first diagnosed or when the Veteran filed an initial claim, as both are later events in time.
- Claimed conditions
- left eye disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2023
- Citation
- 23066712
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 23066712.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to duty-to-assist errors, including failing to obtain SSA records and VA medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's left eye disability is secondary to his service-connected hypertension.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn by his attorney, and the Board is dismissing the case.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has ordered remand for the previously denied claims of service connection for left eye, right eye, and lumbar spine disabilities due to new evidence submitted by the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a left eye disability and a headache disability (claimed as TBI) due to the lack of evidence showing current disabilities during the appeal period.
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