Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2000

The Board found that the appellant's left-ear defective hearing is related to in-service noise exposure. However, it did not establish service connection for right-ear defective hearing, tinnitus, a back disorder, dizziness and blackouts, weakness of the right arm and leg, rash of the feet, or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the right leg (including a neural sheath tumor).

The Board dismissed the veteran's appeal regarding an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for degenerative changes of the lower lumbar spine.

The Board has granted a 10 percent evaluation for the veteran's service-connected lumbosacral strain, effective October 3, 1997.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of service connection for a low back disability and found that new and material evidence has been submitted. The issue is now on its merits, with the Board finding that the low back disability is proximately due to or the result of his service-connected left knee disability.

The Board has ordered the case remanded for further development, including a personal hearing and medical opinion regarding the etiology of the veteran's back disability.

The veteran's post-cholecystectomy syndrome is currently rated as 10 percent disabling, and the evidence does not show that it is productive of severe symptoms.,The veteran's cervical spine disorder is currently rated as 20 percent disabling, and the evidence does not show that it is productive of severe limitation of motion or ankylosis.,The veteran's lumbar spine disorder is currently rated as 20 percent disabling, and the evidence does not show that it is productive of severe limitation of motion, ankylosis, or severe lumbosacral strain.

Service connection is denied for a right hip disorder, a left knee disorder, and a cervical spine disorder as these conditions are not causally related to service or a service-connected disability.

The Board has dismissed the appeal because the veteran did not timely submit a substantive appeal for his claim of service connection for a back disability.

The Board has granted a higher rating for the veteran's lumbosacral strain but denied an increased rating for gastritis.

The Board denied the veteran's request to reopen his claim for service connection for scoliosis of the lumbar spine, finding that the evidence submitted was not new and material.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability warrants a 20% evaluation, and his thrombophlebitis with varicosities of the left leg warrants a 60% evaluation.

The Board found that the veteran's claims for service connection for a back disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus were not well-grounded based on lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to active service.

The Board has determined that the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim for an increased evaluation for the veteran's service-connected hysterectomy with bilateral removal of the ovaries, and thus the claim is denied.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his service-connected cervical and lumbosacral spine conditions, left ankle fracture residuals, and allergic rhinitis.

The Board found that the veteran's claims of service connection for various conditions were not well-grounded and denied them.

The Board has granted an increased rating of 40 percent for the service-connected lumbar spine disability and a separate 20 percent evaluation for the service-connected cervical spine disability.

The Board has determined that the veteran's lumbar spine disability, comprising degenerative disc disease and arthritis, was incurred in or aggravated during his active military service. The claim for gastroesophageal reflux disease and a bowel condition is remanded to the RO.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 20 percent for the veteran's low back disability, finding that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation.

The Board has determined that there is no competent evidence linking the veteran's current low back disability to his military service, and thus the claim for service connection is denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a back disability, finding that there was no clear and unmistakable evidence that the condition pre-existed service. The Board also found that the current back disability is not related to service.