The Board denied the claims for service connection for obesity, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, and increased ratings for various neurological conditions and the thoracolumbar spine disability.
The deciding factor: Obesity is not considered a disability for VA compensation purposes. The Veteran's radiculopathy was found to be mild in severity, warranting only 10 percent ratings prior to certain dates, and the thoracolumbar spine disability did not meet criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- obesity, left lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy, right lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy, left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, thoracolumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 1, 2024
- Citation
- A24071042
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.
- Dismissed
The veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a restoration of the separate 10 percent rating for vertigo, an earlier effective date for service connection for vertigo and migraines, and a 30 percent rating for hypothyroidism with heart murmur. The decision also denied an earlier effective date for hypertension and remanded claims for obesity, obstructive sleep apnea, and individual unemployability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability and a left shoulder disability as the evidence did not support that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during active duty, ACDUTRA, or INACDUTRA.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including a back condition, right and left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, neck condition, upper extremity radiculopathy, bilateral flatfoot, right foot plantar fasciitis, and right ankle pain, as the current evidence is inadequate to make a decision.
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