The veteran's increased symptoms related to the back, left leg, and left foot are attributed to the natural progression of his pre-existing conditions rather than the July 1990 surgery.
The deciding factor: Increased symptomatology is attributable to the natural progress of the disease or injury, not the July 1990 surgery.
- Claimed conditions
- Back, Left Leg, Left Foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 30, 2000
- Citation
- 0031428
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0031428.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a finding of total disability based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, as his service-connected back, bilateral hip, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and left foot disabilities do not prevent him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Granted
The Veteran is entitled to an earlier effective date of February 29, 2000, for an award of TDIU on an extraschedular basis due to his service-connected back and left knee disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted clothing allowances for a back brace and wheelchair, but denied them for a neck brace, bilateral knee braces, pain medication therapy, cane, and walker.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation from May 16, 2009, to March 10, 2013. The Board granted TDIU and DEA benefits during this period.
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