The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for left shoulder and ankle disabilities, as well as service connection for a low back disorder, was granted. The low back disorder is found to be secondary to the service-connected left knee and left ankle disabilities.
The deciding factor: Service connection for the low back disorder was established based on its progression following and as a result of the Veteran's service-connected left knee and left ankle disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DDD) of the left shoulder, Status/post left ankle fracture, Low back disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19120796
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,162 · Granted: 21% (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 19120796.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back disorder. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, bilateral knee disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the evidence did not show an in-service onset or relationship to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back disorder and bilateral knee disorders due to duty to assist errors prior to the rating decision on appeal. The Veteran is not prejudiced as a remand is necessary to correct these errors.
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