The Veteran's paraplegia was not caused by VA care, but the Board finds it is at least as likely as not that the condition occurred during or due to his VA treatment. However, there is no evidence of negligence on VA's part and the event was reasonably foreseeable.
The deciding factor: The postoperative complications were significant and complicated the Veteran's recovery, making it unlikely that any incident during care caused his current disability.
- Claimed conditions
- paraplegia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- August 10, 2012
- Citation
- 1227719
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 1227719.
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: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for neurogenic bowel, bladder, and paraplegia as secondary to her service-connected lumbar strain. The AOJ must obtain additional opinions addressing whether these conditions are aggravated by the service-connected condition.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's cause of death, including gram negative bacteremia, paraplegia, tracheostomy or intracerebral hemorrhage is related to his service-connected migraine headaches condition. The matter is REMANDED for further action.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for paraplegia as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected renal cell carcinoma.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a pre-decisional error regarding where the Veteran resided since June 1, 2017. The AOJ needs to determine this and adjust the benefits accordingly.
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