The Board denied earlier effective dates for the Veteran's service connection claims, finding that her initial claims were submitted after her discharge from active duty and thus not entitled to an earlier effective date.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran did not submit a formal claim for service connection until October 15, 2002, which was more than one year after her separation from active duty. The evidence did not show any prior expressions of intent to seek service connection before this date.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative and arthritic changes, lumbar spine, with spinal stenosis, motor and sensory deficits, right lower extremity, motor and sensory deficits, left lower extremity, sinusitis with allergies
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 8, 2009
- Citation
- 0917384
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 0917384.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for allergic rhinitis, finding that the Veteran likely had allergies since his time in military service. Service connection was denied for back pain and patellofemoral syndrome due to lack of current disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for a neck disability, headaches, bilateral knee disability, and an initial compensable rating for sinusitis with allergies. The decision found that there was no evidence supporting additional low back or neck disabilities due to VA treatment in 1999, and concluded that the Veteran did not have sufficient underlying pathology to support his complaints of chronic back pain.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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