The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis as secondary to his service-connected hidradenitis suppurativa.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence established a link between the Veteran’s service-connected hidradenitis suppurativa and his newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis, with the VA examiner finding that the arthritis was seronegative in nature and affecting multiple joints as described by the Veteran's treating physicians.
- Claimed conditions
- rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19147894
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (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 19147894.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's rheumatoid arthritis disability rating is being remanded for additional development due to significant weight loss and anemia.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for sleep apnea and hepatic steatosis have been denied. The claim for rheumatoid arthritis is being remanded.,Service connection has not been established for the claimed conditions.
- Partly granted
Service connection for rheumatoid arthritis and Sjogren's syndrome is granted.,Service connection for hypertension is remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding its onset in service or as a result of a disease or injury in active service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for blackouts and fainting spells, a bilateral foot condition, and rheumatoid arthritis due to lack of new and relevant evidence.
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