The Board granted service connection for a cervical spine disability, bilateral knee disability, left ankle disability, and bilateral foot disability as secondary to the veteran's service-connected lumbar intervertebral syndrome. The claims for a bilateral elbow disability, bilateral hand disability, bilateral shoulder disability, and right ankle disability were denied.
The deciding factor: The positive evidence supported a relationship between the disabilities in the neck, knees, left ankle, and feet and the service-connected lumbar spine condition due to altered weight-bearing and gait. The negative evidence did not provide sufficient basis to support a relationship for the other disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis in the knees, Bilateral elbow disability, Left ankle disability, Right ankle disability, Cervical spine disability, Arthritis of the hands, Arthritis of the shoulders, Bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2008
- Citation
- 0814433
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 684 · Granted: 25% (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 0814433.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
- Granted
The Board has granted the appellant's claim for service connection for left ankle disability residuals, finding that his current condition is due to an in-service injury and granting the benefit of the doubt.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
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