Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2007

The veteran's back disability is currently rated at 40 percent, and the Board finds no basis to grant a higher rating. The knee and hip disabilities are not service-connected as secondary to his back disability.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development and readjudication due to a need for medical examination and notification compliance.

The Board denied service connection for residuals of a lumbar spine injury and gastrointestinal disability (stomach ulcers), but granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The veteran's back disorder is not related to his military service, nor can arthritis be presumed due to the length of time since discharge. His gastrointestinal condition also does not appear to have been incurred in or aggravated by his military service.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability, as secondary to his service-connected right total knee arthroplasty (due to instability and arthritis), due to lack of competent evidence of a current back disability.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased disability ratings for his service-connected degenerative disk disease of the lumbar spine and cervical disk disease, as both conditions are rated at their maximum allowable under VA regulations.

Your claims for service connection are being remanded to the RO for a Travel Board hearing. The hearing will be scheduled before your case is further considered.

The Board found no evidence of degenerative disc/joint disease, prostatitis, or generalized anxiety disorder during the veteran's period of active service. The VA examiner did not find any pathology related to these conditions.,Service connection was denied for all three conditions as there is no medical evidence linking them to the veteran's military service.

The Board found no evidence of a chronic low back condition in service or that the current condition is related to service. The claim for service connection was denied.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition and granted service connection based on direct evidence of an in-service injury.,Service connection was also established for sciatic pain of both legs as secondary to spondylolysis with spondylolisthesis.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for emotional stress and a back disorder, finding that there was no current disability or evidence of in-service injury. The initial evaluation for removal of the 12th rib is also denied.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a neurological examination and consideration of newly obtained private treatment records.

The veteran's service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and postoperative residuals of right knee surgery are currently rated at 10 percent each, with no evidence supporting a higher rating.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his low back, left ankle, and bilateral knee disabilities. The claim for an earlier effective date for SMC was also denied.

The Board has determined that the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that the veteran's current lumbar spine disability is related to any event in service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for his lumbosacral strain, service connection for depression, and total disability rating based on individual unemployability. The claim for a compensable disability rating for a heart murmur was not addressed.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for additional development and examination, including review of his claims file and a VA examination. The issues on appeal are service connection for peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities as secondary to service-connected bilateral pes cavus and an initial evaluation in excess of 20 percent for service-connected lumbar spine degenerative changes and radiculopathy.

The VA denied the appellant's claims for an initial evaluation in excess of 40 percent for his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, L4-5, with arthritis and TDIU.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining service medical records and VA treatment records. The appeal is denied as the claim was previously denied due to lack of evidence.

The Board found that the veteran does not have verified in-service stressors for PTSD, and there is no current evidence of a lumbar spine disability. Therefore, service connection was denied for both conditions.

The Board found no evidence linking the veteran's current low back complaints to his service, and thus denied his claim for service connection.