The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's claimed bilateral hip and leg disabilities as secondary to his lumbar spine disability, finding that there was no legal basis for such claims due to the denial of service connection for the lumbar spine disability.
The deciding factor: Service connection is not granted when a claimant lacks legal grounds to establish entitlement. The Board found that since service connection for the lumbar spine disability had not been established, secondary service connection for the bilateral hip and leg disabilities was also denied.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, left leg disability, right leg disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 6, 2021
- Citation
- 21040637
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 21040637.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for left and right hip disabilities due to inadequate VA medical opinions. The Veteran will need an adequate VA medical opinion to determine if his hip disabilities are related to service.
- Whole decision: 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.
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