The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral eye disability, to include cataracts, as there was no evidence of a current disability subject to service connection.
The deciding factor: The persuasive weight of the evidence is against a finding that the Veteran's bilateral cataracts are related to service due to refractive errors being considered congenital defects not subject to service connection unless subjected to a superimposed disease or injury, and there was no such event in this case.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral eye disability, to include cataracts
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2024
- Citation
- 24002822
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 service connection for bilateral eye disability, finding no evidence that the condition was incurred in or caused by service and noting that it is not related to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a bilateral eye disability, and a bilateral knee disability due to missing VA treatment records.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a bilateral eye disability as secondary to service-connected disabilities but denied service connection for muscle atrophy/weakness.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, eye disability, erectile dysfunction, skin disability, and painful joints due to a lack of evidence supporting their onset in or relationship to active duty. The claim for a heart disability was remanded.
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