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Denied

The Board denied service connection for right leg edema, left leg edema, and bilateral ankle arthrosis as they are not caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected conditions. Service connection was granted for IBS due to its presumptive link to Southwest Asia theater of operations service.,The Board also denied secondary service connection for bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy.

The deciding factor: There is no evidence showing that the Veteran’s right leg edema, left leg edema, or bilateral ankle arthrosis are caused by his service-connected conditions. The only in-service injury noted was to the feet, which did not result in any swelling or abnormality of the legs.,The Board found that there is insufficient evidence to establish a secondary service connection for the Veteran's bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy.

Claimed conditions
Right leg edema, Left leg edema, Bilateral ankle arthrosis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
How they argued it
Not specified
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
June 6, 2019
Citation
19144020

Veterans Law Judge

J.W. FRANCIS

Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19144020.

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