The Board denied service connection for chronic lumbar spine disorder, chronic cervical spine disorder, chronic right shoulder disorder, chronic left knee disorder, and chronic right knee disorder. The evidence did not show a diagnosis of these conditions during or within one year after the Veteran's separation from active service.
The deciding factor: The medical records did not show any diagnoses of the claimed conditions until years after the Veteran's separation from active service.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic lumbar spine disorder, chronic cervical spine disorder, chronic right shoulder disorder, chronic left knee disorder, chronic right knee disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20004033
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (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 20004033.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a chronic cervical spine disorder to obtain an addendum VA medical opinion that substantially complies with prior remand directives.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a chronic left knee disorder and remanded the claims for sleep apnea and an acquired psychiatric disorder to include posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a chronic lumbar spine disorder as there was no evidence of a causal relationship between the current disability and an in-service injury, and no continuity of symptomatology since service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various musculoskeletal disorders and granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
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