The Board denied the Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for a blind right eye disability, finding that the additional disability was not due to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA, nor was it an event not reasonably foreseeable.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's retinal detachment and subsequent blindness were known risks of the cataract surgery and thus a reasonably foreseeable outcome, and there was no evidence of fault on the part of VA in providing the care.
- Claimed conditions
- blindness in the right eye
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 19, 2025
- Citation
- 25002370
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 926 · Granted: 33% (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 25002370.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matters of entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent for the service-connected glaucoma of the right eye and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) for additional evidentiary development.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim to reopen his service connection for blindness in the right eye and blurred vision, finding that new evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral eye disability, finding that the current disabilities are not related to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for blindness in the right eye, periorbital cellulitis and abscess, MRSA, and respiratory acidosis. The conditions are diseases that first manifested during a period of inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA) and were not as a result of an injury.
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