The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for PLS, finding that there is no evidence of a nexus between his current diagnosis and service or herbicide agent exposure.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that PLS is not caused by service, including herbicide agent exposure, due to its unknown etiology and the fact that it occurred nearly 22 years after discharge from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 18, 2021
- Citation
- 21063807
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 21063807.
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 Veteran's PLS, a variant of ALS, is granted as service connected. The Board found sufficient evidence to presume that PLS developed due to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's ALS was granted service connection throughout the appeal period.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS) as there is no persuasive evidence that the condition began during active service or is related to an in-service injury, event, or disease.
- Granted
The Veteran's PLS, a variant of ALS, is granted as service connected due to the presumption under 38 C.F.R. § 3.318.
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