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Whole decision: Denied

The Veteran's hypertension is related to his military service. The claims for service connection for gouty arthritis, cervical and lumbar spine disorders, and bilateral leg disorders are denied as secondary to service-connected disabilities.

The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of joint pain or findings compatible with gout in the Veteran's service treatment records, and opined that these conditions were less likely than not related to his military service or secondary to his service-connected disabilities.

Claimed conditions
Acquired psychiatric disorder, Hypertension, Gouty arthritis, C5-C6 herniated disc with minimal degenerative joint disease, right C8-T1 radiculopathy, Herniated disc, L3-L4, degenerative disc disease L3-L4, L5-S1, and bulging disc with mild degenerative joint disease, Bilateral disorder of the legs, Diabetes mellitus
How they argued it
Secondary to another service-connected condition
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
June 29, 2017
Citation
1724794

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 1724794.

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.

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