Effective January 31, 2013, the Veteran received increased ratings for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affecting his left shoulder and knees. Effective February 15, 2013, he also received additional disability ratings for recurrent dislocations of each shoulder and instability of each knee.,The effective date for the reduction in rating for chronic strain of the lumbosacral spine from 20% to 10% was January 8, 2014.
The deciding factor: The increase in disability ratings were based on documented reports of recurrent dislocations and instability by the Veteran. The reduction in rating for chronic strain of the lumbosacral spine was due to improvement shown after a March 2014 examination.,The effective dates are determined based on when VA received the Veteran's claims, which is within one year prior to the date of receipt.
- Claimed conditions
- Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Chronic strain of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20000554
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 20000554.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development due to inadequate examination reports and failure to address possible evidence of left knee instability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and a lack of private treatment records. The RO is instructed to obtain any outstanding private medical records, especially from periods prior to active service, and provide the Veteran with appropriate VA examinations to determine the current nature and etiology of her bilateral ankle and wrist conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's chronic strain of the lumbosacral spine prior to September 6, 2017 is currently rated at 10 percent and not higher.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, finding that there was no evidence during his military career that he suffered significantly from multiple joint pains while in service and that the condition did not worsen during his active service.
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