The Board has granted service connection for low back and left foot and ankle disabilities as secondary to a right ankle disability. The Veteran's current diagnoses are linked to his service-connected right ankle disability.
The deciding factor: The new medical opinions support the Veteran's assertions that his current disabilities are related to his service-connected right ankle disability, with the most probative evidence linking the low back disability to a fall caused by his right ankle disability and the left foot and ankle disabilities due to overcompensation for right lower extremity problems.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disability, Left foot and ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19176143
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,772 · Granted: 37% (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 19176143.
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 Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability alone does not prevent him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and bilateral hip disability, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased disability evaluation and effective dates are being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to address the severity of his low back disability, including whether he has experienced incapacitating episodes of IVDS.
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