Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2021

The Board has vacated its previous decisions on several service connection claims and remanded them for further review.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The claims for service connection for thoracic back disability and right ankle disability have been remanded due to new evidence received since the April 2019 rating decision.

The Veteran's lumbar spine degenerative joint disease with lumbar disc herniation is currently rated at 40 percent, and his peripheral neuropathy of the left and right lower extremities are each rated at 40 percent. The claims for increased evaluations have been denied.

The Board has denied service connection for right and left ear hearing loss, tinnitus, lumbar spine disorder, right knee disorder, left knee disorder, right foot plantar fascitis, left foot plantar fascitis, sciatica, rhinitis, sinusitis, and headaches as the evidence does not support a current disability.,The Board found that the Veteran did not have a current diagnosis of any of these conditions.

The Veteran's right and left knee arthropathy and degenerative arthritis, as well as his right and left elbow tendinitis, lumbosacral arthralgia, L5-S1 paracentral disc protrusion, and acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD) are all granted.,Service connection is established for the Veteran's claimed conditions based on their relationship to in-service injuries or stressors.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to the need to correct pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors and obtain additional medical opinions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to April 3, 2013 for a TDIU due to the implicit denial of her TDIU claim in the June 2009 SOC and the finality of that decision.

The Board has remanded the case due to duty-to-assist errors and requests for additional evidence, including service personnel records and a VA examination.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims of service connection for left knee and back conditions, finding that new evidence submitted since the last denial supports these claims. The Board determined that there is a reasonable possibility that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his active service.

The Board dismissed the appeals due to the appellant's death, and no service connection was established for either condition.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for ratings of mood disorder, right knee instability, and lumbosacral strain as the appellant died during the appeal process.

The Veteran's tinnitus was granted service connection as it had its onset in service.,The Veteran's right little finger metacarpal fracture did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating due to lack of ankylosis or functional impairment akin to amputation.

The Veteran's appeal to reopen his PTSD claim is granted. The Board finds that the submitted evidence raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim, as it includes statements describing additional stressor events in service and newspaper clippings confirming one such event. However, further development is needed for the other issues due to lack of STRs.

The Board denied the claim of service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that there is no evidence to support or suggest that any of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities caused or contributed to his death in any way.

The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine injury residuals including degenerative disc disease and intervertebral disc syndrome, as well as left shoulder neurological disability, both of which are determined to have originated during active service.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient service treatment records and an inadequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's back disability. The RO is instructed to attempt to obtain missing service treatment records, particularly those from the Veteran's first period of active duty with the Marine Corps, and to provide a new medical opinion.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and separate compensable ratings for knee disabilities were denied. The cervical spine disability was not rated higher than 10 percent, the thoracolumbar spine disability was not rated higher than 20 percent, and both knee disabilities received separate compensable ratings.

The Board has remanded the cases for additional development and an addendum opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's conditions, including service connection.

The Veteran's claim for increased ratings and service connection was remanded due to incomplete or unclear evidence, particularly regarding the relationship between his service-connected conditions and any new claims.

The Veteran's hypertension, left eye pterygium with dry eye syndrome, right wrist ganglion cyst with painful motion, lumbar spine IVDS, left shoulder disability, and right shoulder disability have been rated based on their respective service-connected conditions. The Veteran received a combined schedular rating of 100 percent from April 1, 2014.