The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed hip, ankle, and foot disorders are not related to his military service or any service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: VA examiners provided opinions concluding that the Veteran's current conditions were less likely than not caused by or aggravated by his service-connected back condition or varicose veins.
- Claimed conditions
- mild degenerative arthritis of bilateral tibiotalar joints, arthritis of bilateral feet, bilateral hip osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2014
- Citation
- 1444166
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 1444166.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hip osteoarthritis, finding that there was no direct evidence linking his current condition to his military service and concluding that any potential secondary relationship to his service-connected knee disability was not established.
- Partly granted
The Board denied higher ratings for left shoulder arthralgia and lumbar spine degenerative arthritis with DDD, granted service connection for right and left lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the lumbar spine disability, and remanded claims for increased ratings of other musculoskeletal conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims for service connection for bilateral hip osteoarthritis and meralgia paresthetica, finding that there was no evidence to support a direct or secondary relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's active service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple musculoskeletal disabilities, including cervical spine degenerative disc disease and bilateral joint osteoarthritis, based on in-service exposure to PCBs.
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