Reald v. Shinseki, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 12598

Read served in the U.S. Army from July 1967 to July 1969 and sustained a through-and-through gunshot wound to the right thigh with a permanent scar.
In 1995, the VA granted service connection for PTSD and residuals of the thigh injury, rating the disability at 10% and denying a separate right-shoulder injury.
In 2005, a VA examiner identified the specific muscle group affected as XV, contradicting prior identification of XIII, and a formal rating action later changed the code from 5313 to 5315 without changing benefits.
The Board affirmed the finding that the wound involved muscle group XV and remanded for proper rating under the correct diagnostic code.
Read argued that changing the situs/diagnostic code violated 38 U.S.C. § 1159 by severing service connection for the originally identified disability (Muscle Group XIII).
The Veterans Court agreed with Read, but the Federal Circuit reversed, holding that § 1159 does not protect the disability’s situs or diagnostic code, as long as the underlying service-connected disability remains.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether changing the disability's situs or diagnostic code amounts to severance of service connection under § 1159.	Read contends severance occurred by shifting from XIII to XV.	Shinseki argues § 1159 protects the disability as a whole, not its specific muscle group or code.	No severance; change in situs/diagnostic code does not terminate service connection.

Collaro v. West, 136 F.3d 1304 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (five elements of a veteran's benefits claim; § 1159 protects service connection)
Gifford v. Brown, 6 Vet.App. 269 (1994) (correction of situs not a § 1159 severance where same disability remains)
Hogan v. Peake, 544 F.3d 1295 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (statutory/regulatory interpretation reviewed de novo)
Wanless v. Shinseki, 618 F.3d 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (VA opinions are persuasive in statutory interpretation)