The Board granted service connection for residuals of right inguinal hernia, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, degenerative joint disease of the right hip, and bipolar disorder.
The deciding factor: The private physician's opinion was found to be more probative than the VA examiners' opinions due to its specific rationale and consistency with the evidence of record.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of right inguinal hernia, degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine, degenerative joint disease, right hip, bipolar disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2022
- Citation
- 22001418
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of December 12, 2023, for a 50 percent evaluation of bipolar disorder and remanded the other issues for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired mental health condition, to include major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder, based on new evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and denied increased ratings for the lumbar disability, left and right sciatica, and chronic sinusitis. However, it granted an increased rating of 40 percent from March 7, 2022, for left and right sciatic radiculopathy and restored a 30 percent rating for chronic sinusitis.
- Granted
The Board granted a 40 percent disability rating for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability since September 26, 2024.
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