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
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.
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