38 CFR § 4.17a
Misconduct etiology
Comes up when a veteran has both a misconduct-related disability and other legitimately service-connected disabilities, and the misconduct condition alone would not qualify for compensation.
How the Board actually uses this section
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The grant figure reflects the mix of claims where this section comes up, not the legal merit of any single claim.
Read the 1,005 decisions citing § 4.17a
The conditions it decides
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What this regulation says, in plain English
This section clarifies that having a disability caused by misconduct does not by itself block a permanent and total disability rating, as long as the veteran's other, properly service-connected (innocently acquired) disabilities independently meet the requirements for total disability or individual unemployability on their own.
Read the full text of 38 CFR § 4.17a
This text was last amended by VA on December 14, 2016. We check it against eCFR every week.
A permanent and total disability rating under the provisions of §§ 4.15, 4.16 and 4.17 will not be precluded by reason of the coexistence of misconduct disability when:
(a) A veteran, regardless of employment status, also has innocently acquired 100 percent disability, or #
(b) Where unemployable, the veteran has other disabilities innocently acquired which meet the percentage requirements of §§ 4.16 and 4.17 and would render, in the judgment of the rating agency, the average person unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. #
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