The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection awards due to a lack of evidence supporting an earlier date.
The deciding factor: The effective date is limited by law and regulation to the date the claim was received, which in this case was February 8, 2012.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative arthritis of the thoracic spine with lumbar degenerative disc disease, degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, status post-discectomy and fusion, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity associated with the service-connected thoracic and lumbar spine conditions, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity associated with the service-connected thoracic and lumbar spine conditions
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19193601
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 19193601.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted disability ratings of 40 percent for right shoulder impingement syndrome, 30 percent for left shoulder impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tear, and acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis, 30 percent for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, 40 percent for degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine, and 30 percent for right knee patellar chondromalacia with degenerative arthritis, but not higher.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to higher disability ratings for chronic sinusitis, low back disability, cervical spine disability, radiculopathy right upper extremity, and thoracolumbar spine scar. The Board also remanded service connection claims for left and right knee disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral foot, cervical spine, and bilateral hip disabilities but denied service connection for an eye disability, OSA, a sinus disability, and a nail condition. The Board also denied an increased rating for hearing loss and dismissed the TDIU claim.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine and lumbar spine were granted due to new and relevant evidence. The claim for right ulnar neuritis was dismissed because proper claims processing rules were not followed.
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