The Board has granted service connection for a low back disability, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left ankle traumatic arthritis. The right tibia and fibula fracture residuals claim is remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established based on the Veteran's reported history of limping due to his service-connected left ankle condition causing strain on his lumbar spine, leading to degenerative changes.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Right tibia and fibula fracture residuals
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19175714
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 Board granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, finding that the Veteran's current degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is related to an in-service bicycle accident.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's cervical spine disability is granted a 30 percent rating, while the lumbar and lower extremity radiculopathy claims are denied. An earlier effective date for right lower extremity radiculopathy was granted, and TDIU based on single service-connected disability is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine to correct a duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disability, neurological impairments of the upper extremities, and dismissed the TDIU claim as moot.
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