The Board granted service connection for bilateral ankle arthritis secondary to the veteran's service-connected spinal disabilities, finding it as likely as not that the disability was caused by his service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The January 2003 VA examiner opined that lower extremity discomfort, including the bilateral ankles, was likely related in some way to a change in gait pattern secondary to the veteran's ankylosing spondylitis, which is considered a part of his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 28, 2008
- Citation
- 0810425
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,458 · Granted: 24% (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 0810425.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to a lack of evidence showing a current disability, in-service incurrence or aggravation, and a causal relationship between the claimed condition and active duty. The remaining claims were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, back disability, and ankle disability render him unable to secure and maintain a substantially gainful occupation from May 7, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) is granted, effective from April 20, 2021. The decision finds that the Veteran meets the criteria for TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's polyneuropathy of the lower extremities is granted as secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disc disease. The claims for a bilateral foot disability other than neuropathy and a bilateral ankle disability are remanded.
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