The Board denied service connection for a neck disorder, shoulder disorder, and bilateral ankle disorder as they were not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident from active service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claimed disorders in the neck, shoulders, or ankles did not manifest to a compensable degree within a year of separation, and there was no evidence linking them to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- neck disorder, shoulder disorder, bilateral ankle disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25023289
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 for earlier effective dates and increased ratings, as well as higher levels of special monthly compensation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a neck disorder, hair loss, PTSD, bilateral foot disorder, bilateral arm numbness, and restless body syndrome due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right ankle, left ankle, low back, neck disorders and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as there was no evidence of a current disability or that the claimed conditions were related to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypertension, a right knee disorder, a left knee disorder, a neck disorder, and chronic fatigue. The claims for obstructive sleep apnea, headache disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder were remanded.
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