The Board denied service connection for various conditions and denied initial ratings for several disabilities, while granting a 30% rating for the left foot disability and a 40% rating for the back disability.

The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have currently diagnosed disabilities of sinusitis, upper respiratory infection, eustachian tube dysfunction, stomach pain, or other claimed conditions, which are critical elements of service connection. Additionally, the evidence does not support granting higher ratings for several disabilities as there was no sufficient evidence to indicate that these conditions were more severe than already rated.

Claimed conditions

acute sinusitis, upper respiratory infection, disorder of the eustachian tube, stomach pain, bilateral hearing loss, abnormal auditory function, vitamin D deficiency, migraines, acquired psychiatric disorder, to include major depressive disorder, left foot disability, bilateral plantar fasciitis, back disability, left arm (nondominant) shoulder disability, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), left ankle disability, left leg varicose veins, right leg varicose veins, right hip strain with limitation of flexion, right hip strain, acne, female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD), loss of sense of taste associated with COVID 19, loss of smell associated with COVID 19, two left ankle surgical scars, scar to lip status post trauma to mouth and teeth, temporomandibular joint dysfunction disability (TMJ)

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

October 16, 2025

Citation

A25089337

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine