The Veteran's claim for service connection for DDD was granted, with the Board finding that the evidence is at least in equipoise that his current diagnosis of DDD began during active service or is otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for reopening of service connection for bilateral pes planus and secondary plantar fascitis was granted. The Board found new and material evidence had been received, allowing the claim to be reopened.
The deciding factor: The decision is based on the equipoise between the Veteran’s current DDD diagnosis and his in-service activities as a paratrooper.,The reopening of service connection for pes planus was granted due to new evidence provided by the Veteran, including medical records and hearing testimony.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint and Disk Disease (DDD), lumbar spine, Bilateral pes planus with secondary plantar fascitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19194378
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 19194378.
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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