The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for residuals of a right shoulder dislocation and for increased ratings for his chronic low back pain and chronic neck pain. The RO had previously granted service connection for these conditions, but did not assign any specific rating.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support the presence of residuals from a right shoulder dislocation or established that the veteran's current low back and neck pain were related to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of a Right Shoulder Dislocation, Chronic Low Back Pain (secondary to desiccated degenerative discs at L4-5 and L5-S1, with dorsal spondylosis and anterior marginal spurs from T2-11 and instability of the lumbar spine), Chronic Neck Pain (secondary to spondylosis at C5-6 and C6-7)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- August 18, 2003
- Citation
- 0320692
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 0320692.
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 claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for special monthly compensation based on loss of use of his left foot, as there was no evidence showing that the service-connected conditions resulted in functional limitation equal to that of amputation of the left foot with prosthesis.
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