The Board has determined that the veteran's osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine is service-connected, with reasonable doubt resolved in favor of the claimant. However, there is no evidence of current arthritis in other joints such as cervical, lumbar, hips, feet, ankles, knees, or shoulders.
The deciding factor: The VA medical examiner found a nexus between the veteran's current thoracic osteoarthritis and his military service, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the claimant. However, radiographic findings did not show osteoarthritic changes in other joints.
- Claimed conditions
- multiple joint impairment (including degenerative joint disease), osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- June 28, 2004
- Citation
- 0417189
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 0417189.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine was granted with an effective date set at May 2, 2019.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine is remanded due to an incomplete VA examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate reasons or bases for denying an increased evaluation for the Veteran's service-connected low back disability. The Court found that the Board failed to address evidence indicating additional functional loss and disregarded the Veteran's statements about pain and movement limitations.
- Denied
The Board denied a higher rating for the Veteran's lumbosacral strain with osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine, finding that his disability did not meet or more nearly approximate the criteria for a rating in excess of 20 percent.
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