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Granted

The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including left knee degenerative joint disease, right knee degenerative joint disease, thoracolumbar spine degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease, major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, avascular necrosis of the left hip, and sleep apnea, all as secondary to service-connected disabilities.

The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's current conditions were caused or aggravated by his service-connected disabilities, meeting the criteria for secondary service connection.

Claimed conditions
left knee degenerative joint disease, right knee degenerative joint disease, thoracolumbar spine degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease, major depressive disorder with alcohol use disorder, left hip avascular necrosis, sleep apnea
How they argued it
Secondary to another service-connected condition
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
100%
Decision date
October 20, 2025
Citation
A25090031

Veterans Law Judge

MICHAEL A. HERMAN

Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · Granted: 27% (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 A25090031.

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.

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