The Board granted the effective date of April 5, 2002, for the award of service connection for various disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's application in April 2002, which included specific medical records and treatment dates, can be reasonably construed as a formal claim for the disabilities that caused his 'TDRL'.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracoabdominal gunshot wound with history of intra-abdominal abscess with ventral hernia, status post gunshot wound to chest and acute respiratory distress with restrictive and obstructive lung disease, adjustment disorder with depressed mood (claimed as depression and previously evaluated as dementia), neck scars, scarring on the chest and abdomen
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25104214
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,911 · Granted: 10% (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 A25104214.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, neck scars, degenerative arthritis of the neck, and upper extremity radiculopathy, are found to be so severe that they prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) effective from October 8, 2019.
- Partly granted
The Board denied or dismissed the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates, higher ratings, and service connection for various conditions, with some grants of earlier effective dates and initial ratings.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's neck scars were granted a 30 percent disability rating, but no higher, for the entire period on appeal. The claim for an increased rating for painful scars under DC 7804 was denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for cervical spinal fusion, neck scars, and loss of taste was granted with an effective date of November 11, 2016. The initial rating for the cervical spinal fusion (with neck resection surgery) status post squamous cell carcinoma, base of tongue remains pending.
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