Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2005

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including addressing secondary service connection claims and adjudicating a claim of CUE in an August 1983 rating decision.

The VA denied the veteran's claim for an increased disability evaluation for his service-connected low back strain, currently rated at 40 percent. The Board found that the evidence did not meet the criteria to warrant a higher rating.

The veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for service connection and a higher rating for PTSD were denied. The earliest possible effective date is September 26, 1996.

The Board has determined that the veteran's low back strain and L5-S1 disc herniation are service-connected, with no new evidence provided to reopen his claim for reactive airway disease. The decision is based on the medical opinions indicating a direct relationship between the current conditions and service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's low back disorder and peripheral neuropathy were not incurred or aggravated during active military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's low back and hip disorders were not incurred in or aggravated by service, and are not related to any injury sustained during his military service. The claim for service connection is denied.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a low back disability, and conjunctivitis of the left eye. The evidence does not establish that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by active military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and low back disability. The claim for bilateral hearing loss was denied due to lack of evidence showing in-service or post-service causation, while the claim for low back disability was denied as there was no medical nexus linking the current condition to service.

The veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of a low back injury was denied. The claim for monetary allowance under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1805 for a child of a Vietnam veteran for disability resulting from spina bifida was also denied.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 20 percent for his service-connected low back disability, finding that the evidence did not support such an increase.

The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration of several issues, including determining whether the appellant is eligible to receive DIC benefits as the surviving spouse of the veteran. The claims for service connection, DIC benefits, and death pension are also being considered.

The veteran's appeal has been withdrawn, and thus the case is dismissed.

The VA has not provided the requested Tuskegee VA Medical Center records from 1972 to 2002, and the case is being remanded for further development.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for Degenerative Disc Disease with Fusion of the Lumbosacral Spine, arthritis, and an eye disorder. The evidence does not support a finding that any of these conditions were incurred or aggravated during active duty.

The veteran's lumbar spine disability with sciatica was granted service connection.,Her digestive (gastric) disability claim was denied.

The veteran's low back disability is rated at 10 percent prior to June 11, 2002 and at 20 percent from June 11, 2002. The left knee disability warrants a noncompensable rating. Pseudofolliculitis barbae is rated at 10 percent. Bilateral trigger finger disabilities are each rated as noncompensable.

The veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disorder and post-polio syndrome is being remanded due to the absence of his active duty medical records and Naval Reserve medical records prior to 1972. The VA will obtain these records and determine if there was an increase in severity of pre-existing poliomyelitis during service.

The veteran's claims for service connection were denied. The Board found that the claimed skin disorders, including chloracne, are not related to his active service or herbicide exposure.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities were not continuously rated totally disabling for the required period, and he was not a former prisoner of war. Therefore, DIC benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318 are denied.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claims for service connection for right knee and low back disabilities, but these issues are remanded for further development.