The Board denied entitlement to an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for cold injury residuals of both feet, as the criteria were not met.
The deciding factor: The November 2002 rating decision was final and the Veteran did not submit new and material evidence within one year of that decision, nor did he file a timely NOD or substantive appeal. The August 24, 2017, application to reopen was considered the date of claim for service connection purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- cold injury of the left foot, cold injury of the right foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2025
- Citation
- 25001789
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 25001789.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for increased evaluations of cold injury of the right and left feet as the appellant died during the appeal process.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's cold injury of the left foot was granted a rating of 30 percent effective March 21, 2018.,The Veteran's TDIU claim was also granted.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further evaluation of his service-connected cold injuries of the bilateral feet, including consideration of recent VA treatment records and additional medical examination.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, alone, do not meet the criteria for a TDIU as they are insufficient to produce unemployability without regard to advancing age. The medical evidence does not support that the Veteran is unable to obtain substantially gainful employment solely due to his service-connected disabilities.
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