Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2000

The Board has reopened your claim for service connection due to the submission of new evidence that supports a relationship between your current low back disorder and an inservice injury. Your claim is now reviewed on its merits.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar disc disease, finding no evidence of a chronic disability in service and insufficient evidence to establish continuity of symptomatology.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of service connection for chronic low lumbar strain syndrome and cervical spine sprain syndrome, as well as his requests for increased evaluations for compression fracture of T5, 6, and 7. The veteran failed to provide competent medical evidence linking his current disabilities to his period of active military service.

The veteran's low back disability is rated at 60 percent, and his migrainoid headaches are rated at 10 percent. The Board has granted the increased rating for the low back condition but denied the request for an increase in the rating for the migrainoid headaches.

The Board has granted a 20 percent rating for osteoporosis of the lumbar and dorsal spine, effective from when the claim was filed.

The Board found that the veteran does not have a current back disability, varices of the left thigh, or gum disease to include bleeding gums. The claims for service connection in these areas are therefore denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of service connection for rheumatoid arthritis and low back disability, finding them not well-grounded.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals has denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his service-connected psoriasis/seborrheic dermatitis with multiple joint arthralgia and chronic lumbosacral strain with low back pain.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection have been denied. The appeals are based on various disabilities, but no presumption or secondary theory of service connection was claimed.

The Board found that the veteran's claims for secondary service connection for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine and entrapment ulnar neuropathy at the left elbow, as secondary to a service-connected left knee disability, are not well grounded.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for frostbite of the feet, a neck disorder, and a low back disorder due to lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected intervertebral disc syndrome of the lumbar spine does not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher evaluation, and thus denied his claim for an increased rating.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disorder and allergic rhinitis, finding no competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his period of active service.,For the increased rating claim, the Board found that while the veteran's anxiety disorder is productive of not more than definite social and industrial impairment, it does not warrant an increase in disability rating beyond 30 percent.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for low back pain and peripheral neuropathy, finding that they are not well-grounded.

The veteran's low back disorder is rated at 40 percent, and he meets the criteria for a total rating based on individual unemployability due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than October 28, 1997 for the grant of service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative joint disease.

The Board found that the veteran's current low back disability, including arthritis, is not etiologically related to service and denied his claim for service connection.

The veteran's PTSD is rated at 100 percent effective October 7, 1995. The left hip disability and lumbosacral strain are both rated at their maximum allowable evaluations.

The Board found that the veteran's low and upper back disorders are not well grounded, as there is no evidence demonstrating a direct link to her service-connected bilateral postoperative residuals of arthroplasties with hammertoes and callosities.

The VA determined that the veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from engaging in substantially gainful employment.