The Board has granted service connection for a back disability and denied service connection for right and left ankle disabilities, as well as gastrointestinal disability. The back disability is attributed to an in-service injury. Right and left ankle disabilities are not shown to be related to service or any other condition. Gastrointestinal disability is not established.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's current back disability was at least as likely as not caused by his military service, resolving doubt in favor of the Veteran. However, there is no evidence linking right and left ankle disabilities to service or a service-connected condition. The gastrointestinal disability cannot be linked to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability (herniated disc at L4-5 and lumbosacral spine spondylosis), Gastrointestinal disability, claimed as constipation and GERD, Right ankle disability, Left ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2018
- Citation
- 18113126
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 18113126.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of January 10, 1997, for a 10% disability rating for his right ankle disability is denied as there was no CUE in the previous decisions.
- Granted
The Board has granted the appellant's claim for service connection for left ankle disability residuals, finding that his current condition is due to an in-service injury and granting the benefit of the doubt.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's right ankle disability is related to his service. The VA examiner must provide an opinion on this matter.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for service connection have been dismissed due to their death.
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