The Veteran's claims of service connection for degenerative arthritis of the left and right shoulders, as well as a rating in excess of 20 percent for lumbar spine disability, were denied. The Board found no current diagnoses of degenerative arthritis in the left and right shoulders and insufficient evidence to establish service connection.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have diagnosed conditions of degenerative arthritis in her left or right shoulders at any time during the pendency of the claim or recent to the filing of the claim, and there was no evidence linking these disabilities to service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, degenerative arthritis of the left shoulder, degenerative arthritis of the right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20065025
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,726 · 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 20065025.
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 has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee disability, right knee disability, lumbar spine disability, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as these issues have been addressed in a separate docket.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus. Service connection is being remanded for the lumbar spine disability and right knee and calf disabilities.
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