Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2019

The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability is related to his in-service injury and grants service connection for this condition.

Service connection is granted for left knee, right foot, left foot, left hip and lumbar spine disorders as well as a psychiatric disorder (major depressive disorder with anxiety).,The Veteran's service-connected right knee disability led to or aggravated his other musculoskeletal conditions.

The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is currently rated at 40 percent, effective November 24, 2015. The Board has found that a higher rating is not warranted and has remanded the issue for further development.

The Veteran's back disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy are remanded for further evaluation due to evidence indicating the conditions may be worse than indicated in his previous VA examination.

The Board has remanded the claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder secondary to diabetes mellitus due to insufficient opinion regarding whether any aspect of the Veteran's service-connected diabetes may have aggravated his lumbar spine disability.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for prostatitis is granted, with the effective date set at April 21, 2011.,Other claims remain denied.

The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death due to COPD, finding that it was less likely as not caused by or related to his PTSD. The primary cause of death was attributed to years of smoking and tobacco use.

The Board has granted service connection for chronic low back pain but has remanded the issue of service connection for basal cell carcinoma with scars.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were reopened and granted effective August 9, 2006. The Board has now remanded the case to determine if there was clear and unmistakable error in a prior rating decision that denied these claims.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals regarding all listed issues, including the rating for migraine headaches and other conditions. The Board dismissed these appeals due to the withdrawal.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a VA examination and updated medical records. The main issue on appeal is whether his back disability is related to service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability, finding that his current condition did not have onset during active service and is not causally related to his military service.

The Veteran's previously denied service connection claims for a lumbar spine disability, headaches, bone spurs, PTSD, right knee disability, and condyloma (genital warts) are being remanded due to new evidence. The issues of restoration of the 70% rating for PTSD and entitlement to TDIU remain pending.

The Veteran's lumbar spine osteoarthritis rating was reduced from 20% to 10%, effective June 1, 2015. The Board found the reduction improper and restored the 20% rating.

The Board has decided to remand the cases of service connection for a back disability and a respiratory disability due to inadequate opinions in previous VA examinations.

The Board dismissed all appeals regarding service connection for various conditions due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal in May 2019. Service connection was granted for tinnitus.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability was denied in July 21, 1975. The Board found no clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in the decision and thus denied an earlier effective date.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability and associated neurological findings, finding that there was no credible evidence of an in-service injury or disease. The Board also found that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection due to arthritis.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of TDIU, finding that the February 2004 rating decision is not final and there are no records in the claims file that can be construed as a formal or informal claim for TDIU prior to March 5, 2001.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected lumbar spine retrolisthesis, degenerative disc disease, and intervertebral disc syndrome due to inadequate evidence from the last VA examination.