The Board grants the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for his lumbar spine, left knee, and obstructive sleep apnea disabilities as secondary to his service-connected right knee disability.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least in approximate equipoise as to whether the Veteran's current lower back, left knee, and obstructive sleep apnea disabilities were proximately caused or aggravated by his service-connected right knee disability with obesity acting as an intermediary.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back condition (degenerative disc disease with degenerative arthritis and bilateral radiculopathy of the lumbar spine), left knee strain, obstructive sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 8, 2024
- Citation
- A24064123
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea due to a duty to assist error.
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