The Board granted service connection for a low back disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left knee disorder and assigned an initial 30 percent disability rating for onychomycosis of the feet, but denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection.
The deciding factor: The favorable March 2024 VA medical opinion supported a finding that the Veteran's low back disorder is proximately due to his service-connected left knee disorder. The evidence does not support an earlier effective date as there were no formal or informal communications requesting service connection for onychomycosis of the feet prior to September 19, 2017.
- Claimed conditions
- onychomycosis of the feet, thoracolumbar spondylosis (low back disorder)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- November 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25098754
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 910 · Granted: 31% (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 A25098754.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection and rating increases have been dismissed due to his request to withdraw the appeals.
- Granted
The Veteran's onychomycosis of the feet is granted as service-connected due to presumed herbicide exposure in Vietnam.,Service connection for COPD and obstructive sleep apnea are denied, with no current evidence linking these conditions to service or presumptive exposure to herbicides.,The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea is not related to his service, including presumed herbicide exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded four issues related to service connection for COPD, an acquired psychiatric disability, sleep apnea, and onychomycosis of the feet. The VA examinations need to be supplemented with addendum opinions that address whether these conditions are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded three issues: service connection for TBI, onychomycosis of the feet, and a cardiac disorder. The appeal is pending as the VA/RO did not act as an AMA Opt-In for the February 2021 supplemental claim.
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