Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2009

The Board has determined that the Veteran is not entitled to service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, or right knee injury. However, the Veteran's residuals of a low back injury are found to be incurred in service.

The Veteran's claimed right shoulder, neck, and low back disorders, as well as hearing loss and tinnitus, are not considered to be related to service. The Board finds that the preponderance of evidence is against these claims.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for his lumbosacral spine fusion was denied, and the issue of a higher initial rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity remains pending.

The Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine is currently rated at 60 percent, but his disability does not meet or approximate criteria for a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic code.

The Board has ordered a remand for the Veteran to be scheduled for a VA examination to assess his low back strain with degenerative disc disease, including any incapacitating episodes and additional functional loss due to pain. The case will be returned to the Board after this is completed.

The Board has granted service connection for syncope as secondary to service-connected allergic rhinitis with sinusitis. The remaining claims of entitlement to service connection for right knee and low back disabilities, both as secondary to syncope, and the request to reopen the claim for residuals of fracture of the left foot are remanded.

The Board found that the Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine is not proximately due to or the result of service-connected disability. The claim for secondary service connection was denied.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for degenerative disc disease of the cervical and lumbar spines have been granted, with a rating of 20 percent for the lumbar spine effective February 17, 1997.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete VA treatment records and the need for a psychiatric examination.

The Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral strain was rated at 10 percent prior to July 12, 2006 and at 20 percent from that date. The Board found the evidence did not support staged ratings in excess of these assigned percentages.

The Board found no evidence of a low back disability during service and concluded that the current disc disease of the lumbar spine is not related to service. The claim for service connection was denied.

The Board found that the Veteran does not have a low back disability attributable to his active military service and denied service connection for psychiatric disability. The claim was reopened based on new evidence, but service connection is still denied.

The Board finds that the Veteran's low back degenerative disc disease is likely to have had its clinical onset during his period of active service, and thus grants service connection for this condition.

The Board found no evidence of a chronic back disorder in service and denied the claim for service connection.

The Veteran's appeal for a disability evaluation in excess of 40 percent for discogenic disease of the lumbar spine was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable VA rating schedule.

The Board found that the Veteran's back disability was not caused by VA treatment, and thus denied his claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a supplemental medical opinion to determine if the veteran's low back disorder is aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability.

The Board finds that the Veteran's lumbar disc disease is attributable to service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have low back strain or a right hip disability that is attributable to his active military service.,The VA examiners found no evidence linking these conditions to his period of service and did not find them related to his service-connected foot disabilities.

The Board found no evidence of chronic disabilities of the right knee, low back, right wrist, or right ankle that were incurred in service or related to a service-connected left knee disability.