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 assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0909771
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal is dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, finding that the Veteran's current degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is related to an in-service bicycle accident.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's cervical spine disability is granted a 30 percent rating, while the lumbar and lower extremity radiculopathy claims are denied. An earlier effective date for right lower extremity radiculopathy was granted, and TDIU based on single service-connected disability is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine to correct a duty to assist error.
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