The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine is granted as service connected.,The Veteran's left and right lower extremity radiculopathy are secondary to his now service-connected degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine. ,The Veteran's prostate cancer is presumed to be due to herbicide exposure in service, and his erectile dysfunction is also service connected as it is secondary to his prostate cancer.,Service connection for a right knee disability and left knee disability are remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least in equipoise regarding the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, including degenerative arthritis. The private examiner's opinion supports this finding.,The Veteran has bilateral lower extremity sciatica/radiculopathy that is secondary to his now service-connected degenerative arthritis of his thoracolumbar spine.,Service connection for prostate cancer and erectile dysfunction are granted as they are presumed due to herbicide exposure in Thailand, and the latter is also secondary to prostate cancer.,Additional development is needed to determine if the Veteran's right and left knee disabilities are related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Residuals of prostate cancer, Erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19146905
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 an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of April 5, 2018, for the award of service connection for PTSD and denied earlier effective dates for erectile dysfunction, left ear hearing loss, migraines, and other conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, sleep disorder, erectile dysfunction, and right eye injury as new and relevant evidence was not received to readjudicate these claims.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for erectile dysfunction and remanded the claims for a sleep disorder and headaches to ensure proper development of evidence.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.