The Board has granted service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis and bilateral hip osteoarthritis, but has remanded the issues of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability (to include PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorder) and obstructive sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's back and bilateral hip disabilities are etiologically related to his period of active service. As such, service connection has been granted for these conditions based on resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative arthritis, bilateral hip osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186504
Veterans Law Judge
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 19186504.
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 has granted service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis and DDD, as well as right and left lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to the now service-connected lumbar spine condition. The decision is based on a finding of relative equipoise in the evidence regarding whether these conditions are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found the eligibility determination for PCAFC enrollment to be legally inadequate and remanded for a new medical opinion that adequately addresses the criteria for eligibility as set forth in VA regulations.
- Denied
The Veteran's lumbar spine degenerative arthritis and degenerative disc disease are currently rated at 40 percent, which is the maximum rating available under the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The Veteran's RLE sciatic radiculopathy has been dismissed due to untimely filing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claim of service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis as secondary to bilateral pes planus due to inadequate medical opinions and lack of contemporaneous medical records.
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