Body system: EyeRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.79DBQ: DBQ OPHTH Eyes
This rating covers veterans who have lost almost all vision in one eye (can only detect light but can't see shapes or objects). Your disability percentage depends entirely on how well your other 'good' eye can see. The worse your remaining eye's vision, the higher your rating - ranging from 30% if your good eye sees 20/40, all the way up to 100% if your good eye can barely see the big E on the eye chart (5/200 vision).
Rating levels
- 100% — You qualify when one eye has no more than light perception (you can tell light from dark with it but cannot see shapes or objects; the eye itself is still present) and the vision in your other eye is 5/200, which means you see at 5 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 200 feet. Vision is measured with your glasses or contact lenses on (corrected distance vision). Anatomical loss of an eye is a different code, DC 6063.
- 90% — One of your eyes has no more than light perception, and the vision in your other eye is 10/200, which means you see at 10 feet what a person with normal vision sees at 200 feet. Together this is a severe loss of vision in both eyes. Vision is measured with your glasses or contact lenses on (corrected distance vision).
- 80% — Your vision in your other eye (the one not primarily affected) must be severely impaired, testing at 15/200 or worse on an eye chart. This means you can only see at 15 feet what a person with normal vision can see clearly at 200 feet - you would need to be within 15 feet to read letters that others can read from 200 feet away. This level of vision loss means you can likely only make out very large objects and would have significant difficulty with daily activities like reading, driving, or recognizing faces.
- 70% — Your vision in the unaffected eye must be 20/200 or worse. This means that when standing 20 feet away from an eye chart, you can only see letters that a person with normal vision could see from 200 feet away - this is considered legally blind vision. The regulation asks only for the vision in the other eye; it does not matter what caused it.
- 60% — You must have no more than light perception in one eye (meaning you can only detect bright light but cannot see shapes, objects, or read anything with that eye) AND your other eye must have vision of 20/100 (which means you need to be 20 feet away to see what a person with normal vision can see from 100 feet away). Both eyes must meet these specific vision requirements to qualify for this rating.
- 50% — You have very severe vision loss in one eye where you can only detect light but cannot see shapes or objects. In your other eye, your vision must be 20/70 (meaning you need to be 20 feet away to see what a person with normal vision can see from 70 feet away) when wearing your best corrective lenses.
- 40% — You have vision so poor in one eye that you can only detect light but cannot see shapes or objects, while your other eye has vision of 20/50 (meaning you need to be 20 feet away to see what someone with normal vision can see from 50 feet away). This represents significant vision loss in one eye combined with moderately impaired vision in the remaining eye.
- 30% — You are essentially blind in one eye (can only detect light but can't see shapes or objects) and your other eye has mild vision problems where you need to be 20 feet away to see clearly what someone with normal vision can see from 40 feet away. Your better eye can read most things but may have trouble with smaller text or distant signs without glasses or contacts.