Case studies. One veteran, one decision, every angle.
Deep dives on individual BVA decisions. The evidence, the precedent, the judge's reasoning, and the lesson for your file. 17 case studys so far.
17 results in Case Studies
Case Studies
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.
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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.
The VA Never Scheduled Her C&P Exam. The Board Called It an Automatic Remand.
A veteran filed for a skin condition with a diagnosis, a doctor's letter, and her own statement. VA decided the claim without ever ordering an exam. Here's why the Board sent it back.
Johnston Atoll, A Storage Supplyman, and the IME That Connected Three Conditions: Inside BVA 23000410
An Army supply specialist stored Agent Orange on Johnston Atoll in the 1970s. Decades later, one private medical opinion connected his toxic exposure to three separate conditions in a single Board decision.
When the Board Splits the Baby: BVA A25037997 and the Brutal Logic of 38 C.F.R. § 3.385
An Army helicopter aircrewman won the in-service noise concession, got a current diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss, and still lost. Here's exactly how that happens, and what the same decision tells us about the thirteen claims it remanded.
One Marine, Six Grants, Four Remands: How a Combat Rifleman Won His Elbows in BVA 24013945
A Marine combat rifleman walked into an exam, said his elbows started hurting during day-to-day training, and walked out with service connection. Here's exactly how that one sentence did the work.
When 'Presumptive' Doesn't Apply: Inside BVA A24086734 and the Anemia Denial
A Vietnam veteran won lung cancer and colon cancer on Agent Orange theories in the same decision he lost anemia. The reason why is a lesson in how presumptive lists actually work.
BVA Case Breakdown: When a C&P Exam Is Inadequate, the Board Sends It Back
Citation A25029009: A back pain claim where the Board found the C&P violated three separate CAVC precedents and remanded. How 'inadequate exam' works.
BVA Case Breakdown: After Five Denials, an Asthma Claim Finally Won. Because of One Private Nexus Opinion
A Gulf War Army veteran fought through five VA denials for asthma and sleep apnea. The case turned on one private opinion that did what four VA examiners wouldn't.
Three Denials, One Hearing Transcript: How BVA 24009026 Cracked Open Five Claims
An Army veteran lost the same migraine claim three times across 22 years. Then he sat down at a Board hearing, told one story about being jumped at Fort Riley, and reopened five claims at once. Here's exactly how.
One TERA Memo, Seven Reopened Claims, and a $1,678 Rating: Inside BVA 24018149
A Marine's 2015 denial sat dead for eight years. Then a TERA memo, two intercurrent grants, and a single lay letter pried open seven claims at once. Here's exactly how it worked.
One Private Physician Assistant Opinion, Two Decades-Old Car Wrecks, and a Granted Neck Claim: Inside BVA A25070677
A veteran with three short service stints and two in-service car accidents got his cervical spine claim granted on a single private physician assistant's nexus opinion. Here's how the file came together.
BVA Case Breakdown: Why This PTSD Claim Was Denied (And What You Can Learn From It)
Case Citation: A25048755 | Decision Date: June 3, 2025
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