The Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis of the shoulders, knees, and lower back is related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis during service and provided a positive nexus between his current disability and his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral shoulders, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral knees, rheumatoid arthritis of the lower back
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2009
- Citation
- 0948934
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 0948934.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 remanded the case due to a duty to assist error, requiring a VA examination and medical opinion regarding the Veteran's chronic back condition.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed all the claims due to the appellant's death during the appeal process.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional examinations and consideration of the issues related to his service-connected conditions, including bruxism (claimed as teeth grinding), migraine headaches, PTSD, lumbar strain, reactive airway disease, rheumatoid arthritis of the bilateral knees, tinnitus, restless leg syndrome, left elbow chronic epicondylitis, right foot plantar fasciitis, allergic rhinitis, status-post right 4th metacarpal fracture, bilateral shin splints, erectile dysfunction, scars on the bilateral knees and left elbow, right great toe onychomycosis, and acne.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded 10 issues related to tinnitus, allergic rhinitis, psoriasis, and various forms of rheumatoid arthritis due to the lack of service treatment records. The RO is instructed to attempt to locate these records through multiple avenues.
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