The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various spinal disabilities and their residuals, as secondary to a service-connected right knee meniscus tear.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support that the Veteran's spinal cord injuries were caused by his service-connected right knee disability under the but-for causation standard established in Spicer v. McDonough.
- Claimed conditions
- Closed fracture of T1-T6, Neurogenic bladder, Right rib fracture, Complete paralysis right lower extremity due to spinal cord injury, Type 2 odontoid fracture, cervical spine C5-T1, Complete paralysis left lower extremity due to spinal cord injury
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25047300
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 40 percent for neurogenic bladder, granted a 10 percent initial rating for loss of smell and loss of taste, and denied service connection for traumatic brain injury.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for her lumbar spine disability, a compensable rating for migraine headaches, and service connection for neurogenic bladder.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and remanded several other issues, including service connection for sleep apnea.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right lower extremity sciatica associated with the Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral spine strain, but remanded claims for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and sleep apnea.
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