The Veteran is granted a clothing allowance for the year 2012 based on use of bilateral knee braces. The Veteran's claim for a clothing allowance based on use of low back and ankle braces is denied.
The deciding factor: The knee braces tend to wear or tear the Veteran's clothing, resolving in favor of granting the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- sclerosis and degenerative changes of the lumbar spine, bilateral status-post knee surgeries with degenerative changes, bilateral achilles tendonitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- March 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19120729
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,990 · Granted: 35% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19120729.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, back disability, bilateral achilles tendonitis, gout, diabetes mellitus, type 2 (DMII), obstructive sleep apnea, and an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include anxiety and depression. The Board denied increased ratings for right and left knee degenerative joint disease, separate ratings for instability of the knees, a separate rating for residuals of a right knee meniscectomy, and service connection for bilateral leg pain, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic sinus disability, respiratory disability due to exposure to asbestos, heart murmur, irregular heartbeat, and seizures.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected conditions caused him to become obese, which was a substantial factor in causing his obstructive sleep apnea. The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to his service-connected chronic lumbar strain including status post discectomy residuals with IVDS, bilateral calcaneal heel spur, bilateral achilles tendonitis, and bilateral knee strain with history of patellofemoral syndrome.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim due to deficiencies in the February 2015 VA ankle conditions examination findings and for obtaining additional treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that there has not been substantial compliance with the most recent remand and additional development is required. Specifically, VA was to request records from treatment provider S.B., but did not do so using the correct street address on Stelton Road.
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