The Veteran's claim for residuals of heat exhaustion is denied, and his initial rating for thoracolumbar spine arthritis with IVDS is granted at a 20 percent level from September 9, 2010 to December 14, 2016.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran has residuals of heat exhaustion or a MUCMI related to his in-service heat exhaustion. The VA examinations did not find any current diagnosis for these conditions and concluded they are due to other service-connected disabilities or medication side effects.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of heat exhaustion, thoracolumbar spine arthritis with intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19178290
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 399 · Granted: 41% (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 19178290.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for various conditions, including residuals of heat exhaustion, chronic headaches, skin disability, acquired psychiatric disabilities, bilateral foot disabilities, lumbar spine disabilities, and radicular pain. Service connection is denied for hypertension, IBS, and OSA.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal. The Board cannot issue a decision on the underlying claim(s) at this time.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for a bilateral shoulder condition, but denied petitions to reopen claims for residuals of heat exhaustion, any dysfunction regulating body temperature, and a right ankle condition. The Board also remanded claims for bruxism and a bilateral shoulder condition.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for left ear hearing loss and migraine was denied. The veteran was granted a 10% rating for lipoma but denied for right ear hearing loss, residuals of head injury, and heat exhaustion. Service connection for IBS was granted. Other issues were remanded.
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