The Board denied the appellant's claims for higher initial ratings, earlier effective dates and service connection for a heart condition.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support an increased rating or earlier effective date for the claimed conditions, and there was no evidence of a superimposed disease or injury to warrant service connection for a heart disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Lumbar radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Lumbar radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, Flat feet with degenerative arthritis and mallet toe deformities, Left knee tricompartment degeneration with intraarticular degeneration, Right knee tricompartment degeneration with intraarticular degeneration, Heart condition, to include a heart murmur and mitral valve prolapse
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0909771
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 0909771.
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.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate examinations and the need for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability, diagnosed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, is related to service and granted service connection for this condition.
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