The Board has granted service connection for DDD of the thoracolumbar spine and assigned a 20 percent disability rating. Service connection was denied for bilateral knee disorder, left hand disorder, bilateral wrist disorder, and right ear otitis media and externa.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish current disabilities for the claimed conditions or continuity of symptomatology since service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the thoracolumbar spine, Bilateral knee disorder, Left hand disorder, Bilateral wrist disorder, Right ear otitis media and otitis externa
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- September 23, 2002
- Citation
- 0212819
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 0212819.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The appeal was denied for service connection of a cervical spine disorder, and several claims were remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hearing loss, jaw disorder, hernias, right hand disorder, left hand disorder, left index finger disorder, right knee disorder, and left knee disorder as there was no evidence of a current disability at any time during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and a bilateral knee disorder, finding that the evidence does not support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's active service.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to increased ratings for the Veteran's low back disability, left ankle disability, and lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as a TDIU.
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