Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2015

The Board has remanded the case due to the Veteran's failure to appear at a scheduled travel board hearing. The claims are now pending for further action.

The Board has remanded the claims due to incomplete records and conflicting medical opinions. The Veteran's service connection claims for low back, bilateral knee, bilateral wrist, and headache disabilities are being reviewed with additional development.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, is related to her in-service trauma. The Board finds credible the Veteran's assertion of a sexual assault during service and concludes that she has an acquired psychiatric disorder as a result of this trauma. The Veteran also has a low back disorder which is related to her in-service injury on stairs.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a videoconference hearing before a Veterans Law Judge.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for her service-connected chronic lumbar strain with degenerative joint disease is being remanded due to the need for updated private treatment records and a VA examination.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed right ankle and low back disabilities, including obtaining VA treatment records and a medical examination.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic lumbar strain, bilateral knee degenerative joint disease (DJD), right shoulder disorders including osteoarthritis and impingement, and bilateral ankle arthritis. The diagnoses were not deemed to be related to service.

The Board has granted service connection for low back, right knee, left knee, and right foot disorders as secondary to the service-connected left foot hallux valgus.

The Board has granted service connection for right hip disability, diagnosed as avascular necrosis of the right hip with degenerative arthritis. The claim for lumbar disc disease is being remanded.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete medical records and the need for a VA examination to determine if sleep apnea is related to service, as well as an evaluation of the Veteran's lumbar strain.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and established that his current condition is related to his time in service.

The Board found that the Veteran does not have a lumbar spine, right hip, or cervical spine disability that is related to his military service or caused by a service-connected condition.

The Veteran's lower back condition and left knee condition are found to be at least as likely as not aggravated or proximately due to his service-connected right knee disability, respectively.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability, to include bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, finding that there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease and insufficient medical evidence linking his current condition to service.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for lumbosacral strain and neurological manifestations of the left and right lower extremities are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development.

The Board found that the Veteran's current low back disorder is not related to his military service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's low back strain with degenerative changes and radiculopathy of the lower extremities have been rated at 40 percent since March 4, 2008. The rating is based on direct service connection without any presumption or secondary theory.

The Board denied the Veteran's increased rating claims for his lumbar spine disability and left/right lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as his claim for TDIU. The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is currently rated at 20 percent disabling.

The Veteran's back disorder, diagnosed as multilevel degenerative changes of the lumbar spine status post lumbar fusion, is etiologically related to in-service injuries consistent with his combat service in Southwest Asia. As a result, the Board has granted service connection for this condition.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for TDIU is granted, with the effective date set at May 20, 2004. The Veteran was found to be unemployable due to service-connected disabilities as of that date.