Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2021

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for a lower back disability, hemorrhoids, and skin cancer due to additional development being necessary.

The Board denied service connection for low back and left knee disorders, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic condition in service or due to service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disorder, finding that his current condition is not related to service and specifically noting that there was no medical evidence or other probative evidence to support his contention of cold exposure during service in Korea.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for her neck disability is granted, but the Board finds that she does not meet the criteria for TDIU due to her service-connected disabilities.

The Board has granted service connection for a cervical spine disability beyond that of cervical strain, including arthritis. The decision finds the Veteran's current condition is related to his in-service motor vehicle accident.

Service connection is granted for right knee condition, back condition, left lower extremity disability, and right lower extremity disability.,Service connection is denied for left knee condition. The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding this issue during the hearing.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disability and a heart condition, finding no evidence of a relationship between these conditions and his active duty service.,For the compensable rating claim for bilateral hearing loss, the Board found that the Veteran's current hearing acuity did not warrant such a rating based on the results from the most recent VA examination.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development due to inadequate opinions in the December 2020 VA examination reports. The Veteran's back disorder and bilateral upper extremity (BUE) disorder are both being reviewed.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment, and thus denied his claim for TDIU.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and TDIU have been withdrawn. The Board has also remanded several issues related to his knee disabilities, OSA, GERD, back disability, neck disability, right shoulder disability, bilateral ankle disability, migraine headaches, and residuals of head injury due to incomplete records and the need for additional evidentiary development.

The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for her lumbar spine disability has been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating prior to November 3, 2009 and immediately after May 1, 2010 to February 1, 2020, or since February 11, 2020.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for prostate cancer, bladder cancer, and lumbar spine disorder, all secondary to service-connected hepatitis C.,Service connection is not granted as there is no evidence linking these conditions directly to service or service-connected hepatitis C.

The Board has remanded the restoration of service connection for several conditions, including cervical spine arthritis, bilateral shoulder arthritis, lumbar spine DDD, right thumb arthritis, and post-surgical scars. The claims are being returned to the RO for further development.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claim of service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine. The issue is now remanded for further development, including a VA examination.

The Board has granted service connection for lumbar spine DDD and arthritis, right knee patellofemoral syndrome with meniscal tear, and left shoulder osteoarthritis. The claims were reopened due to new evidence received since the final denial in December 2014.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection have been remanded due to the need for further examination and evaluation.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and lack of evidence regarding the onset and etiology of his claimed disabilities. The claims are being returned for further development.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate rationale in a previous VA examination and the need for another opinion.

The Board denied service connection for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and increased the rating for a back disability, but remanded one issue related to sleep apnea. The Veteran was granted TDIU.,For the back disability, the criteria were changed from February 7, 2021, and both old and new criteria are considered.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for psoriasis, a rating in excess of 40 percent for lumbar spine myositis, and a separate rating for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy. The issues are also being remanded due to the need for additional development related to SMC benefits.