Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2009

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current back disability, including arthritis, did not manifest within one year after service and was not related to an injury or incident in service. Therefore, service connection cannot be presumed. The Board also found no other medical evidence of record providing a link between the Veteran's current disability and his service.

The Board has determined that further development is needed before the Veteran's claims can be adjudicated on the merits. Specifically, clarification is required regarding whether his urinary disability, back disability, and sexual dysfunction are aggravated by his service-connected left varicocele.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a thyroid condition, and a mild chronic intermittent lumbar strain have been dismissed due to the untimely filing of his substantive appeal.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition. However, after reviewing all available records, including VA treatment records and VA examination reports, the Board finds that there is no causal relationship between the Veteran's current back condition and his active duty service. The same applies to his right shoulder and arm injury.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disorder, including sciatica and spinal stenosis, is being remanded due to the need for additional development of his medical records and an examination.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining service treatment records and Social Security Administration records. The Veteran's low back disorder is being evaluated based on direct evidence of a relationship to service.

The Veteran's bilateral hand, wrist, hip, ankle and foot disorders were not incurred in or aggravated by service. His lumbar spine and knee disorders are secondary to his diabetes mellitus. The Veteran is entitled to a TDIU effective April 5, 2001.

The Board found that the Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is not related to her service-connected low back syndrome and denied her claim for service connection.

The Veteran is seeking an increased rating for his service-connected lumbosacral strain, chronic, with degenerative changes at L5-S1. The claim was remanded in June 2007 and again in June 2008 due to the lack of a July 2007 VA neurological disorder examination report.

The Board found that the evidence of a nexus between the Veteran's claimed low back disorder and his military service was outweighed by more probative evidence to the contrary, thus denying the claim for service connection.

The Board found no current right arm or back disorder and denied the Veteran's claims for service connection.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for further development, including obtaining additional medical records and conducting examinations to address the nature of his claimed conditions and their relationship to service.

The Veteran's thoracic spine disability is not service-connected, and her cervical spine disability has been granted with a noncompensable rating initially but later increased to 10 percent.

The Veteran's back disorder, foot disorder (pes planus), and bilateral ankle arthritis are all found to be related to his military service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including a VA examination and review of Social Security Administration records.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate evidence and procedural issues, including a need for new VCAA notice and additional development of inpatient records from Germany and Fort Riley.

The Veteran's appeal is denied as his lower back disability does not warrant a rating in excess of the assigned ratings for any period.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a new examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of her claims, including obtaining VA outpatient treatment records.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability associated with her claimed conditions, and therefore, she cannot establish service connection for any of these claims.