The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for a painful scalp scar and a scalp scar was denied. The effective dates were set at March 1, 2023.,The Veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for a scalp scar (which replaced the separate 10 percent ratings under Diagnostic Codes 7804) was also denied.,The Board found that no earlier effective dates were warranted as there were no claims or intent to file prior to March 1, 2023.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date was denied because the earliest claim received by VA related to a traumatic brain injury on March 1, 2023. The scalp scar and scalp scar claims were granted based on this claim, with effective dates of March 1, 2023.
- Claimed conditions
- scalp scar
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 15, 2024
- Citation
- A24025649
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 A24025649.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's sinusitis is granted service connection as presumed related to exposure to fine particulate matter during his Gulf War service. His bilateral hearing loss and left eyebrow, scalp scars are not rated higher than the current noncompensable ratings.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and denied an initial compensable rating for tension headaches. Several claims were remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for migraine headaches was denied as the evidence did not show very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability.,The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for a scalp scar was denied because there were no characteristics of disfigurement. A separate 10 percent rating for a painful scalp scar was granted from November 25, 2020.
- Denied
The July 2020 rating decision granted a TDIU, but did not result in any past-due benefits. The appeal is denied as the Appellant's services were provided before the date on which the Veteran was notified of the initial decision.
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