The Board denied service connection for osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine as they were not related to the veteran's military service or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners attributed the veteran's conditions to factors other than his military service, such as age, weight, genetics, tobacco use, and low testosterone levels. There was no evidence linking these conditions to in-service herbicide exposure or any other aspect of his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0903970
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,377 · Granted: 17% (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 0903970.
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.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis disability rating is being remanded for additional development due to significant weight loss and anemia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability was rated at 40% prior to September 28, 2018. From that date, the rating was increased to 50%. The earlier effective date for TDIU is denied.
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