The Veteran's claims for service connection for ankylosing spondylitis and spinal stenosis are denied as the earliest possible effective date is April 14, 2015.,Claims for earlier effective dates for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity (femoral nerve) and sciatic nerve, left lower extremity (femoral nerve) and sciatic nerve are also denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims were not filed prior to April 14, 2015 for service connection of ankylosing spondylitis and spinal stenosis. The earliest effective date is therefore April 14, 2015.,Claims for earlier effective dates for radiculopathy are denied as the Veteran did not file prior claims before April 14, 2015.
- Claimed conditions
- ankylosing spondylitis, spinal stenosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- October 23, 2020
- Citation
- A20015954
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 105 · Granted: 19% (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 A20015954.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for degenerative disc disease, intervertebral disc syndrome, spinal stenosis, and bilateral lower extremity sciatica have been granted as they are related to his active duty service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's back disability, diagnosed as lumbar strain, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, is causally related to service. As such, service connection for this condition is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis with intervertebral disc syndrome to include spinal stenosis and lumbar scoliosis, right knee total arthroplasty, and left knee strain are all granted service connection as directly related to his military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine, including retrolisthesis of L3 over L4 and ankylosing spondylitis (claimed as low back condition) has been dismissed due to withdrawal by the appellant.
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