The Veteran's claims for service connection are granted, and the Board remands several issues related to secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: New evidence was received that relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim of service connection for intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of the lumbar spine. The Veteran's claims for muscle pain as secondary to multiple sclerosis, multiple sclerosis itself, and other related disabilities are also remanded.
- Claimed conditions
- intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of the lumbar spine, muscle pain, multiple sclerosis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19176353
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,797 · Granted: 20% (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 19176353.
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 Board has denied service connection for contact dermatitis, multiple sclerosis, and eye disorder due to lack of current diagnoses. The claims are remanded as there were pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors in the original decision.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for muscle pain, finding that his symptoms are already accounted for by his existing service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's initial claim for an increased rating for his service-connected low back disability (previously rated as degenerative disc disease) was remanded due to a duty-to-assist error in the November 2024 Back Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire. The case is now being remanded to obtain retrospective findings from an appropriate clinician to determine the severity of the Veteran's service-connected back disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has withdrawn claims for service connection for joint pains and muscle pain. The remaining issues of service connection for right hand, left hand, left knee, seizures/tremors, immune disorder, and nerve damage are remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
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