Tag: rated

Single Judge Application; pain; functional loss; If pain causes functional loss, it “must be rated at the same level as if that functional loss were caused by some other factor.” Mitchell v. Shinseki, 25 Vet.App. 32, 37, (2011); For an examination to adequately capture functional loss, the examiner must opine whether pain could significantly limit functional ability and, if feasible, portray that opinion “‘in terms of the degree of additional range-of-motion loss due to pain on use or during flare-ups.’” Sharp, 29 Vet.App. at 32 (quoting Deluca v. Brown, 8 Vet.App. 202, 206 (1995));
Single Judge Application; Pain limits ability to function; Deluca factors; in rating musculoskeletal disabilities, the Board must rely on VA examinations that consider whether and to what extent pain, or other factors listed in 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.40 and 4.45 (the Deluca factors), limit a veteran’s ability to function. Sharp v. Shulkin, 29 Vet.App. 26, 32 (2017). If pain causes functional loss, it “must be rated at the same level as if that functional loss were caused by some other factor.” Mitchell v. Shinseki, 25 Vet.App. 32, 37, (2011). For an examination to adequately capture functional loss, the examiner must opine whether pain could significantly limit functional ability and, if feasible, portray that opinion “‘in terms of the degree of additional range-of-motion loss due to pain on use or during flare-ups.’” Sharp, 29 Vet.App. at 32 (quoting Deluca v. Brown, 8 Vet.App. 202, 206 (1995)). If an examiner is unable to offer a nonspeculative estimate of a veteran’s functional loss due to pain, the examiner must explain why such an opinion cannot be offered. Id. at 32;
“Purely subjective complaints such as headache, dizziness, insomnia, etc., recognized as symptomatic of brain trauma, will be rated 10[%] and no more under [DC] 9304. This 10[%] disability rating will not be combined with any other rating for a disability due to brain trauma. Ratings in excess of 10[%] for brain disease due to trauma under [DC] 9304 are not assignable in the absence of a diagnosis of non-psychotic [OBS] with brain trauma.” 2015 WL 5255331, at*8 (quoting 38 C.F.R. § 4.124a, DC 8045 (1988));
Single Judge Application; The Board cannot avoid adjudicating an issue before it, here the proper rating, simply because it may also arise in a different claim. See Rice, 22 Vet.App. at 450-54 (clarifying that TDIU is not a “claim” but an entitlement to a total disability rating when certain qualifications are met); As appellant notes, the Board’s failure to address entitlement to TDIU based solely on the veteran’s migraine headaches was prejudicial because that entitlement may lead to eligibility for SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s). See Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet.App. 280, 293 (2008) (“[S]ection 1114(s) does not limit ‘a service-connected disability rated as total’ to only a schedular rating of 100%, and the Secretary’s current regulation permits a [total disability rating based on individual unemployability] based on a single disability to satisfy the statutory requirement of a total rating.” (quoting 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s))); And VA has had a long-standing policy of considering SMC where it may apply, even if not explicitly raised. See Akles v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 118, 121 (1991);