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Denied

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of May 12, 2021 for a 70 percent rating for service-connected TBI with residuals.,The Board dismissed the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date prior to December 21, 2020 for the grant of service connection for TBI with residuals as it was not timely appealed.

The deciding factor: The increase in severity of the Veteran's TBI with residuals did not occur within one year prior to May 12, 2021, and therefore, an earlier effective date is not factually ascertainable.,The April 2021 rating decision granted service connection for a TBI with residuals effective December 21, 2020. The Veteran did not timely request review of the effective date assigned for the grant of service connection.

Claimed conditions
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
70%
Decision date
November 12, 2024
Citation
A24073838

Veterans Law Judge

L. STEPANICK

Decisions by this judge: 915 · Granted: 38% (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 A24073838.

What this means for you

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