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Denied

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for lumbosacral disc disease, degenerative joint disease of the left knee and degenerative joint disease of the right ankle as secondary to his service-connected disabilities of the left foot and right knee.

The deciding factor: The August 2005 VA examination report indicated that the veteran's claimed conditions could not be related to his service-connected disabilities without resorting to speculation, and there was no other evidence linking these conditions to his service-connected disabilities.

Claimed conditions
Lumbosacral disc disease, Degenerative joint disease of the left knee, Degenerative joint disease of the right ankle
How they argued it
Secondary to another service-connected condition
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
January 9, 2009
Citation
0900949

Veterans Law Judge

M. E. LARKIN

Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 0900949.

What this means for you

A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.

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