The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease and right ankle pain as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected bilateral knee patellofemoral syndrome, but denied an earlier effective date for the evaluation of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: The probative evidence weighed in favor of the claims for service connection due to a nexus between the degenerative disc disease and right ankle pain and the service-connected bilateral knee disorders. However, there was not enough evidence to support an earlier effective date for the evaluation of the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (claimed as back pain), Right ankle pain
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- December 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25107479
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 831 · Granted: 48% (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 A25107479.
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 Board dismissed all claims for service connection as the AOJ had not yet issued a decision on these issues.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and granted service connection for right foot metatarsalgia, while remanding the other claims for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied compensation benefits for prostate biopsy and colonoscopy residuals, as well as service connection for left ankle pain, right ankle pain, left elbow arthritis, right elbow arthritis, and right knee osteoarthritis.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for allergies, left arm pain, right arm pain, and right ankle pain due to a lack of evidence supporting the existence of current disabilities.
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