The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability as secondary to his service-connected right knee disability, and remanded the claims for diabetes mellitus and arthritis condition due to exposure at Camp Lejeune and/or secondary to his right knee disability.
The deciding factor: The evidence is in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran’s lumbar spine disability is caused by his service-connected right knee disability. The Board found that the February 2020 VA examination and August 2018 treating VA physician's examination are of equal probative weight, with the latter supporting a secondary causation opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, diabetes mellitus, arthritis condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071624
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various musculoskeletal issues, as well as an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for rhinitis. However, the Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for hypertension and diabetes mellitus to obtain further medical opinions regarding their potential relationship to toxic exposures during active service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee, right hip, and lumbar spine disabilities as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left knee disability but denied a rating in excess of 30 percent for his left knee disability prior to April 25, 2019.
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