Veterans’ RightsAn independent resource for veterans
← All decisions
Denied

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for left shoulder bursitis and upper left chest pain (costochondritis), finding no evidence of these conditions in service. However, it granted service connection for arteriosclerotic heart disease based on evidence from his second period of active duty.

The deciding factor: The VA medical examinations found no current diagnoses of the claimed conditions, leading to a denial of service connection. The examiner concluded that the veteran's current arteriosclerotic heart disease was incurred during service.

Claimed conditions
left shoulder bursitis, upper left chest pain (costochondritis)
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
0%
Decision date
April 29, 2003
Citation
0308110

Veterans Law Judge

Mark D. Hindin

Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)

Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.

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 0308110.

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.

Free starter guide for your own claim

Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.

We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.

We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.

This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.