The veteran's effective date for service connection and SMC for loss of use of bilateral lower extremities is granted as of September 16, 2021.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's frequent falls and inability to stand or walk unassisted from September 16, 2021, amounted to a loss of use of his bilateral lower extremities.
- Claimed conditions
- loss of use of bilateral lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25000099
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 878 · Granted: 46% (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 A25000099.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's need for supervision, protection, or instruction on a continuous basis due to his service-connected disabilities has been determined, granting him an increased Level 2 stipend under the PCAFC program.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings have been denied. Effective dates prior to July 27, 2023, are not warranted as the issues were not reasonably raised before that date.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for a special home adaptation grant as they do not result in anatomical loss or use of both hands, blindness in both eyes, deep partial thickness burns, full thickness or subdermal burns, or residuals of an inhalation injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for bladder incontinence but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
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