The Board denied the appellant's claims for service connection for Lyme disease, headaches, Bell's palsy, a psychiatric disability, and arthritis as secondary to Lyme disease due to lack of confirmation of Lyme disease in service and no association with any incident therein. As there was no service-connected condition to which these disabilities could be attributed, the Board denied all claims.
The deciding factor: The Board found that Lyme disease was not confirmed until several years after active duty for training and is not associated with any incident in service. Therefore, it concluded that the appellant did not meet the criteria for service connection for his claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Lyme disease, headaches, Bell's palsy, psychiatric disability, arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 24, 2002
- Citation
- 0205175
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 0205175.
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the appeal to obtain a VA medical opinion that considers the Veteran's contentions of in-service training with heavy gear and equipment.
- Dismissed
The appeals for restoration of ratings and for a higher disability rating were dismissed as the April 2025 rating decision did not make final decisions on these issues.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an increased initial disability evaluation of headaches due to an inadequate VA examination.
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