The Board denied an increased rating for a lumbar spine disability and dismissed the Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for bilateral pes planus, left thumb tremor, and bronchitis due to untimely filing of a notice of disagreement.
The deciding factor: The probative evidence did not support a finding of ankylosis or functional equivalent of ankylosis in the lumbar spine. The Veteran's VA Form 10182 was not timely filed, leading to the dismissal of his increased rating claims for bilateral pes planus, left thumb tremor, and bronchitis.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine disability, Bilateral pes planus, Left thumb tremor, Bronchitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25105544
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 931 · Granted: 42% (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 A25105544.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral pes planus is not service-connected due to a duty-to-assist error, and remands the case for further examination and opinion.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches and lumbar spine disability, as well as left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, were denied. The effective dates for these conditions are also denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) was denied because the disability is not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period; continuity of symptomatology is not established; and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disability was denied because the disability was not shown as chronic in service and did not manifest to a compensable degree within the applicable presumptive period; continuity of symptomatology is not established; and the disability is not otherwise etiologically related to an in-service injury or disease.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) was denied because there is no evidence of loss of consciousness or memory impairment following the motor vehicle accident during service, and post-service VA treatment records do not show a diagnosis of TBI.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for SMC(o) was denied as he could not receive multiple awards of SMC(l). The right shoulder bicipital tendonitis rating was denied, and the TDIU claim was granted.
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