The Board denied service connection for a traumatic brain injury, lumbosacral spine disability, bilateral shoulder disability, and bilateral knee disability as the evidence did not support that these conditions were related to active service or an undiagnosed illness.
The deciding factor: The record evidence does not show current disabilities due to TBI, lumbosacral spine, shoulders, or knees which are related to active service or any incident of service, including as due to an undiagnosed illness. The Veteran's lay assertions and hearing testimony that he injured his lumbosacral spine, shoulders, and knees while in combat were considered credible but still did not support granting service connection for these current disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- traumatic brain injury (TBI), lumbosacral spine disability, bilateral shoulder disability, bilateral knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 12, 2024
- Citation
- 24002110
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 Board granted service connection for left knee strain, right knee strain, right wrist strain, and TBI. The Veteran's PTSD rating was remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claim for a bilateral knee disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, including scheduling an additional VA examination.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for a bilateral knee disability, bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, and chronic pain syndrome due to untimely notices of disagreement.
- Dismissed
The veteran's appeal requests for service connection and increased ratings were denied due to untimeliness, as the appeals were not filed within one year of the respective rating decisions.
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