The Board has reopened the veteran's claims for service connection of degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine with degenerative disc disease at L5-S1 and bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, but denied service connection for osteoarthritis of both shoulders.
The deciding factor: The evidence submitted is new and material to the low back disorder and hearing loss claims, as it relates to unestablished facts necessary to substantiate those claims. However, there is no competent medical evidence linking the current shoulder conditions to active military service or a presumption of service connection can be applied.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine with degenerative disc disease at L5-S1, Osteoarthritis of the left shoulder, Osteoarthritis of the right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 14, 2008
- Citation
- 0815872
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,613 · Granted: 30% (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 0815872.
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 Board has denied service connection for degenerative joint disease of the left and right knee, osteoarthritis of the left shoulder, a right shoulder condition, and intervertebral disc disorder of the spine as there is no evidence to support that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the spine, and osteoarthritis of the right shoulder and left shoulder based on evidence showing that these conditions had onset during active military service.
- Denied
The Board denied a higher rating for the right shoulder disability and service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for osteoarthritis of the right and left shoulders, finding that these conditions are related to in-service injuries.
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