Real decisions, in plain English

The Veteran's claim for service connection for left foot pes planus is dismissed. The claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder was denied, and the claims for right eye injury residuals are remanded.

Left foot pes planus · Acquired psychiatric disorder · Right eye injury residuals

The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for hypertension, and the Board dismissed the case as a result.

hypertension

The Veteran's chronic adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood is rated at 50 percent, which does not meet the criteria for a higher rating of 70 percent or above.

Chronic Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood

The Veteran's bilateral pes planus is rated at 30 percent, which does not meet the criteria for a higher rating. The Board denied his claim for a higher rating as his pes planus did not result in pronounced flatfoot with marked pronation, extreme tenderness of plantar surfaces of the feet, or marked inward displacement and severe spasm of the Achilles' tendon on manipulation. For TDIU, the Veteran was granted from March 2, 2019, based on his service-connected disabilities rendering him unable to obtain and follow a substantially gainful occupation.

bilateral pes planus

The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and a fractured rib and chronic rib pain due to procedural issues and the need for additional medical opinions.

bilateral hearing loss · tinnitus · bilateral plantar fasciitis · fractured rib and chronic rib pain

The Veteran's anxiety and depressive disorders were rated at a 70 percent disability rating effective May 6, 2015.,Effective May 6, 2015, the Veteran was granted an earlier effective date for DEA benefits.

unspecified anxiety disorder · unspecified depressive disorder

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for sleep apnea and cervical spine disability due to potential service connection issues related to obesity, service-connected disabilities, and other factors.

sleep apnea · cervical spine disability

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for right ear hearing loss and a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence to support these claims based on in-service noise exposure or other theories.

Right Ear Hearing Loss · Left Ear Hearing Loss

The Board has remanded the case due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including missing treatment records and a lack of an opinion on whether the Veteran's unspecified adjustment disorder is related to his service.

Acquired psychiatric disorder (including unspecified adjustment disorder)

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining additional medical records and readjudicating the claims. The issues on appeal are now characterized to include a claim for entitlement to TDIU.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The Veteran's claims for increased disability evaluation and effective dates are being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to address the severity of his low back disability, including whether he has experienced incapacitating episodes of IVDS.

Low back disability

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU was denied as the new evidence submitted did not raise a reasonable possibility of establishing his entitlement to TDIU. The Board found that the VA treatment records generated in the year following the September 2017 rating decision were cumulative or redundant and did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.

PTSD · migraines · ulcerative colitis

The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims of right shoulder disability and low back disability due to insufficient evidence.

bilateral hearing loss · right shoulder disability · low back disability

The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for tension and migraine headaches is remanded due to the inadequacy of the September 2020 VA examination report, which did not consider the ameliorative effects of medication.

Tension headaches · Migraines

The Veteran's persistent depressive disorder is rated at 70 percent, the highest available rating under the General Formula for Mental Disorders. The other issues have been denied.

Persistent Depressive Disorder

The Veteran's right and left foot disabilities are currently rated at 10 percent each, but the Board found that they do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic codes.

Right foot disability · Left foot disability

The Veteran's claims for an increased evaluation of his major depressive disorder and TDIU were denied due to failure to report to a VA examination without good cause. The Board found that the evidence did not show he was unable to follow a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected psychiatric disability.

Major depressive disorder

The Veteran's bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy has been granted a 30 percent disability rating since November 29, 2021.

Left Lower Extremity Radiculopathy · Right Lower Extremity Radiculopathy

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection of his low back condition, finding that it is related to his military service.

low back condition

The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions and examinations regarding his claimed conditions.

urinary incontinence/voiding dysfunction · acute/sub or old myocardial infarction; CAD; congestive heart failure; cardiomyopathy; mitral and tricuspid regurgitation · headache · subdural hematoma/brain disability · hypertension · chronic kidney disease stage 3, status post right nephrectomy