The Board granted service connection for left shoulder strain as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right shoulder disability, based on a medical opinion from an APRN that the left shoulder condition was caused by overuse due to the right shoulder disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found the opinion of the APRN more persuasive than the VA opinions because it considered the Veteran's lay assertions and supporting medical literature.
- Claimed conditions
- left shoulder strain
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25023937
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25023937.
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's hypertension, left shoulder strain, and right shoulder disability are all granted as service-connected.,The Veteran is also remanded for a rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the spine and for service connection for sleep apnea.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions and a need for additional examination.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial 10% disability rating for left shoulder strain was upheld as there was no clear and unmistakable error in the September 2010 Rating Decision.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left shoulder, right shoulder, and low back disabilities due to a lack of evidence linking these conditions to his active military service.
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