The Veteran's service-connected left knee disability is found to be the primary cause of his current degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, thus granting service connection for these conditions.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability is secondary to his service-connected left knee condition due to an altered gait resulting from the gunshot wound injury.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease, Degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19162974
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 19162974.
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.
- Denied
The appeal for an increased rating for left hip, the claims for entitlement to an earlier effective date and an increased rating for right knee strain, and the appeal for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for left shoulder strain were dismissed. The claim for a 40 percent rating from June 24, 2021 for degenerative disc disease was granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a lumbar spine disability as secondary to a cervical spine disability due to an inadequate medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a higher initial rating of 40 percent for degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease, lumbosacral strain, and scoliosis, but remanded the other issues.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease, effective November 21, 2022.
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