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Whole decision: Denied

The Board denied service connection for a hip condition and low back condition as there is no evidence of current disabilities, and the preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that these conditions are related to the veteran's active military service or his service-connected right knee disability.

The deciding factor: There was no competent medical evidence showing the existence of a hip or low back disability, nor any evidence linking such conditions to the veteran's service or service-connected condition.

Claimed conditions
hip condition, low back condition
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
January 23, 2009
Citation
0902402

Veterans Law Judge

BARBARA B. COPELAND

Decisions by this judge: 1,515 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0902402.

What this means for you

A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.

What you can do next

Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).

Related decisions

Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.

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