The Board denied an effective date prior to January 1, 2020 for the grant of benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1822 for a child born with spina bifida due to the specific statutory effective date set by The Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019.
The deciding factor: The Board is bound by the law and cannot assign an earlier effective date as it did not provide for such benefits prior to January 1, 2020.
- Claimed conditions
- spina bifida
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2025
- Citation
- A25110234
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 785 · Granted: 34% (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 A25110234.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The claim for benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1805 for a child born with spina bifida is denied because no new and relevant evidence has been submitted to support the claim.
- Denied
The Board denied benefits for spina bifida and other covered birth defects because the Appellant does not have a diagnosis of spina bifida, her mother is not a Vietnam Veteran, and there is no legal basis to grant benefits.
- Denied
The Veteran's service in Vietnam did not qualify the Appellant for benefits due to spina bifida or other covered birth defects, as her mother is not a Vietnam Veteran.
- Denied
The Board denied benefits for spina bifida and other covered birth defects because the Appellant does not have a diagnosis of spina bifida, his mother is not a Vietnam Veteran, and there is no legal basis to grant the claim.
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