The Veteran's claim for a higher level of SMC based on the need for aid and attendance was denied as she did not meet the criteria for regular aid and assistance due to her service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran failed to provide evidence meeting the criteria for regular aid and assistance, including inability to dress or undress herself, adjust special prosthetic appliances, feed herself, attend to wants of nature, or be in bed permanently.
- Claimed conditions
- blindness in both eyes, left breast disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2024
- Citation
- 24003310
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 24003310.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for financial assistance for specially adapted housing or special home adaptation due to lack of loss of use of extremities, blindness, or burns.
- Partly granted
The Board granted entitlement to Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) based on blindness in both eyes and remanded the issue of service connection for sarcoidosis due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied compensation under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for additional disabilities resulting from treatment at a VA facility, finding that there was no evidence of additional disability proximately caused by carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a left breast disability and a right breast disability, finding that the Veteran's current fibrocystic disease is etiologically related to her active service.
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