The rule is short. A disability that is proximately due to, or the result of, a service-connected disease or injury is itself service connected. The same goes for a condition that was not caused by service but was made worse by a service-connected one. Either way, the link runs through the condition you already have, not back to your time in uniform.
Common examples
- From a back or neck injury: radiculopathy (nerve pain, numbness, weakness in an arm or leg), hip or knee problems from an altered gait.
- From a knee or ankle: the opposite knee, the hips, the lower back, from years of favoring the bad side.
- From PTSD, anxiety, or depression: sleep apnea, GERD, headaches, high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, and side effects of the medications used to treat them.
- From diabetes: neuropathy, kidney disease, eye disease, heart disease, erectile dysfunction.
- From chronic pain of any kind: depression or anxiety.
- From hearing loss or tinnitus: depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance.
- From medications: stomach, kidney, or liver problems from long-term pain or psychiatric medication.
What the VA needs
- The primary condition is already service connected (or is being claimed at the same time).
- A current diagnosis of the secondary condition.
- A medical opinion linking the two, in the "at least as likely as not" language. This is almost always needed for a secondary claim, because the link is medical, not historical. See nexus letters.
For an aggravation claim (the service-connected condition made a separate condition worse), the VA also wants a baseline: medical evidence of how bad the second condition was before the worsening started. It then rates only the increase.
Why it matters for your rating
Secondary conditions are rated separately and combined with everything else. Because of how the VA combines ratings, two or three secondaries at 10% or 20% each can be what moves a veteran from 70% to 90%, or from 90% to 100%. They are also often the path to a TDIU case.
How we help
When we read your medical records we look for the conditions that hang off the ones you already have, including the ones you never connected in your own mind. Then we tell you which of them have real support in your file, and what medical opinion each one would need.
Have questions about your own situation?
Request a free consultation call. Someone from our team will call you within one business day, talk through where you are, and tell you plainly whether we can help. No cost, no obligation.