The Board has granted service connection for back, neck, left shoulder, right lower extremity, and left lower extremity disorders on a direct basis. The Veteran's current diagnoses of DJD (degenerative joint disease) of the thoracolumbar spine, cervical spine, bilateral hips, and shoulders are related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner provided opinions that the Veteran’s diagnosed back, neck, left shoulder, right lower extremity, and left lower extremity disorders were at least as likely as not incurred in or caused by the claimed in-service injury, event, or illness.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Disorder (DJD of the thoracolumbar spine), Neck Disorder (DJD of the cervical spine), Left Shoulder Disorder (left rotator cuff degeneration), Right Lower Extremity Disorder (DJD of the right hip), Left Lower Extremity Disorder (DJD of the left hip)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19191607
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,893 · Granted: 31% (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 19191607.
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
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