Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2011

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including additional examinations and consideration of the claims in light of new evidence.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient information provided by the VA examiner regarding the etiology of the Veteran's low back disorder. The Veteran will need a new examination and opinion.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate records and a need for a VA medical opinion regarding whether the cause of the Veteran's death is related to service or any service-connected disability.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's current cervical and lumbar spine disabilities and his military service.

The Board has determined that a new VA examination is necessary to determine the etiology of any current low back disorders, including whether they are related to service or pre-existing conditions.

The Veteran is seeking service connection for a left knee disability and a lumbar spine disability, to include ankylosing spondylitis. The Board has ordered additional development including obtaining service treatment records from the Veteran's deployment during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

The Veteran's preexisting hallux valgus of the left and right feet was not aggravated by service, and arthritis of both feet was first noted more than 15 years after separation from service.,A low back disability was not manifested during active service or for many years thereafter, and it is not medically attributable to the Veteran's service.

The Veteran's claim for automobile and adaptive equipment is denied as the evidence does not show loss of use of one or both feet due to service-connected disability.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and addressing the Veteran's claims of service connection, increased evaluation for PTSD, and TDIU.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim, and that there was no current diagnosis of PTSD or chloracne.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims to reopen his service connection claims for back and left knee disorders due to incomplete records, including ONG records and private treatment records from Dr. B.E.

The Board is remanding the case for further development, including obtaining medical opinions on whether the Veteran's degenerative disc disease is secondary to his service-connected lumbosacral strain and determining if he is entitled to a TDIU or extraschedular rating.

The Board has granted a 40 percent disability rating for the appellant's lumbar arthropathy, effective from August 19, 2004. The decision also notes that there are separate 10 percent ratings assigned for left and right sciatica.

The Board has remanded the case to conduct further evidentiary development, including obtaining additional service records and affording the Veteran a VA examination to assess his current low back disability.

The Veteran's lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease was rated at 40 percent effective April 27, 2009. The rating is based on the current manifestations of the disability.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development to determine if the Veteran's current low back disability is related to his period of active service, including consideration of his lay testimony of an in-service fall and machine gun injury.

The Veteran's skin disease, including psoriasis and a benign tumor or tumors, was not found to be related to service-connected right below-the-knee amputation. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, vascular disease (exclusive of peripheral vascular disease of the right lower extremity), arthritis of the cervical and lumbar spine, and kidney failure were all determined to be unrelated to military service or service-connected conditions.

The Board found that the Veteran's back disability was not incurred in or aggravated by active service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain updated VA treatment records, schedule him for examinations to evaluate his current low back and right heel disabilities, and provide an SOC on the issues of service connection for peripheral neuropathy and a compensable rating for a right elbow disability.

The Board found that the Veteran's tinnitus and low back disorder were not incurred in or aggravated by service, nor could they be presumed to have been incurred. The Veteran's PTSD was rated as 70 percent disabling throughout the appeal period.