The Board granted an effective date of September 1, 2021, for service connection for the Veteran's thoracic spine, cervical spine, right foot, painful scar, status-post varicocele surgery, left lower abdomen, right knee, bilateral tinnitus, and right lower extremity neuropathy disabilities.
The deciding factor: The RO did not notify the Veteran that his December 2021 Intent to File was invalid, so the Board resolved all doubt in favor of the Veteran and found that the proper effective date for service connection is September 1, 2021, the day following the Veteran's separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracic spine disability, cervical spine disability, right foot disability, painful scar, status-post varicocele surgery, left lower abdomen, right knee disability, bilateral tinnitus, right lower extremity neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 1, 2025
- Citation
- A25029963
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 857 · Granted: 35% (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 A25029963.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Partly granted
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- Denied
The Board denied the claims of service connection for cervical spine and skin rash disabilities, finding that there is no evidence linking these conditions to active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for miscarriage, cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and right elbow disability due to insufficient examination opinions and incomplete service history verification.
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