The Board denied service connection for a disability of the eyes, other than bilateral photophobia, as there was no evidence to support a nexus between the Veteran's eye conditions and his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA physician opined that the Veteran's bilateral eye disability was less likely than not incurred in or caused by the claimed in-service injury, event, or illness, citing medical studies for this conclusion.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral photophobia, large optic cups, bilateral refraction error, optic atrophy, open angle glaucoma, vitreous floaters
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2025
- Citation
- 25006516
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,604 · Granted: 65% (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 25006516.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and SMC have been remanded due to regulatory changes affecting the rating of eyes on May 13, 2018. The AOJ is instructed to consider both old and new criteria for rating eye disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral photophobia and TBI with depression have been granted service connection, and the rating for TBI with depression has been increased to 70 percent. The issues of a compensable rating for tension headaches and entitlement to TDIU are being remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected open angle glaucoma is granted. The claim for an increased rating for COPD remains denied, as the severity of his condition does not warrant a higher than 30 percent rating. The Veteran's hypertension is now rated at 10 percent, but no higher.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal due to the Veteran's death.
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