The Board has determined that the Veteran's currently diagnosed low back, left shoulder, and left elbow disabilities are not related to service. The preponderance of the evidence shows that these conditions are more likely due to natural degenerative changes associated with aging.
The deciding factor: VA examination reports found no direct link between the current diagnoses and service, attributing them instead to age-related degeneration.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disability, left shoulder disability, left elbow disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2012
- Citation
- 1235667
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 1235667.
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.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that remand is needed for the Veteran's claims due to duty to assist errors, including clarification of periods of service and obtaining relevant records. The Veteran will be afforded new medical examinations for each claimed disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims of right shoulder disability and low back disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection of a low back disability was granted with an effective date of January 9, 2018. The Board accepted her November 21, 2019 VA Form 20-0996 as a valid opt-in of the April 2019 SOC into the modernized review system.
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