The Board denied service connection for BPH and bilateral shoulder disorder, finding no evidence linking these conditions to active duty or herbicide exposure. The denial is based on the lack of a causal relationship between the current disabilities and service.
The deciding factor: There was no medical opinion establishing a link between the current diagnoses and service.
- Claimed conditions
- benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), bilateral shoulder disorder
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2023
- Citation
- 23000200
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (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 23000200.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral shoulder, elbow, wrist, and hip disorders due to a lack of current diagnoses in the medical records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for various conditions including an acquired psychiatric disorder, chronic pain and fatigue, psoriatic arthritis, bilateral shoulder disorder, and low back disorder due to a failure to provide notice of the right to a hearing.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral shoulder, knee and foot disorders. Service connection was denied for residuals of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and sleep disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further adjudication due to insufficient evidence regarding whether a prostate condition, including benign hyperplasia and cancer, is secondary to type II diabetes mellitus. The issue of an earlier effective date for service connection for prostate cancer remains unresolved as well.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.