The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a heart murmur, arthritis of the hip secondary to a low back disorder, and for reopening his claim for a low back disorder as new and material evidence was not submitted.
The deciding factor: The April 2008 VA examiner indicated no current diagnosis of a heart murmur or valvular heart disease. The preponderance of the evidence showed that the Veteran did not have arthritis in the left hip during service, within one year of discharge, and it was unrelated to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder (lumbosacral strain), Heart murmur, Arthritis of the hip
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910630
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 0910630.
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 Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection of a cardiac disability due to insufficient evidence and need for clarification on whether the heart murmur is a congenital defect or disease, as well as potential exposure during active service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a heart murmur and a left foot heel spur, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a heart condition, to include a heart murmur and hypertension, due to incomplete evidence regarding the nature of the Veteran's heart murmur and potential service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran is eligible for payment of attorney fees from benefits resulting from the December 2023 grant of past-due benefits.
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