The Board granted service connection for a bilateral hand disability, cervical spine disability, bilateral knee disability, and left lower extremity radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports a nexus between the Veteran's in-service diving career and his current disabilities of the hands, cervical spine, knees, and left lower extremity radiculopathy due to compression of the nerve root at the lumbar area of the spine.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hand disability, cervical spine disability, bilateral knee disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 23, 2024
- Citation
- A24068168
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.
- 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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- 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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection and granted initial 40 percent ratings for left upper extremity CTS, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy.
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