Why the Board Denied This Congenital Heart Claim
A long cardiovascular appeal turned on whether the veteran had rheumatic heart disease, what later testing showed, and whether service affected a congenital condition.
Intelligence Brief
Clear guides, original reporting and a closer look at VA claims.
Case Studies
21 articles · All sections
TBI Granted After the Board Compared Two VA Opinions
One VA examiner diagnosed TBI and connected it to documented head injuries. A later opinion missed those facts. Here is why the Board gave them different weight.
GERD Rating Reduction Reversed: What the Board Found in A25062915
VA reduced this veteran's GERD rating from 30% to 10%. The Board restored it and separately awarded 60% from May 2022, based on the evidence for that period.
Diagnostic Code 7328: The One Word That Keeps Severe Digestive Ratings at 40 Percent
A veteran with two intestinal resections, a removed gallbladder, GERD, and chronic diarrhea was denied a higher rating. The reason wasn't symptoms. It was the word 'material' in Diagnostic Code 7328.
PTSD Back Pay Has a Deadline: How Five Days Cost This Veteran Eleven Months of Retro Pay
A Navy veteran missed his appeal window by five days. The Board denied his earlier effective date claim and locked his 70 percent PTSD rating to August 2020 instead of the year before. Here's the procedural trap, in full.
Clear and Unmistakable Error Is the Hardest Motion in VA Law. He Proved the Error and Still Lost.
An Army veteran proved the 2008 RO applied the wrong legal standard to his pes planus claim. The Board agreed. He still lost. Here's why CUE is the hardest motion in VA law.
Nexus Letter Denied: Two Chiropractor Letters Reopened This Claim, Then Sank It
His chiropractor's two nexus letters got his denied back claim reopened. Then the Board gave them no probative weight and the claim died anyway. The letters contradicted his own records. Here is what went wrong.
Sleep Apnea Secondary to PTSD Granted: The Weight-Gain Chain Two VA Exams Missed
Two VA examiners said his PTSD could not cause sleep apnea. Two private opinions showed the chain: PTSD drove the weight gain, the weight gain drove the apnea. The Board granted. Here is the exact reasoning that won.
A Schizoaffective VA Rating: Denied Three Times, Then 70 Percent With Back Pay to 2010
A veteran's psychiatric claim was denied in 1981, again in 2006, and again in 2010. Fifteen years later, the Board bumped his initial rating to 70 percent. Here's exactly what changed.
Do Buddy Letters Help VA Claims? This Veteran's Testimony Won a 20% Ankle Rating When the Exam Couldn't
The C&P exam showed motion too good for a higher rating. The examiner couldn't measure flare-ups. So the Board used the veteran's own credible testimony to grant 20 percent. Here's exactly how lay evidence carried the day.
Get Intelligence Brief by email.
One email per week with new guides, reports and VA updates. Unsubscribe anytime.