Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2022

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for intervertebral disc disease of the lumbar spine and TDIU were dismissed due to his death.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for TBI, HTN, bilateral hip and back disabilities, bilateral foot disability, and left elbow disability due to conflicting medical opinions and inadequate examination reports.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for a back disorder and left arm disorder due to unclear statements or opinions from a previous VA examiner. Additional development is needed to determine if there are any missing records.

The Board denied service connection for back disorder, left hip disorder, left thigh disorder, left knee disorder, left ankle disorder, and chronic UTIs as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions in the record.

The Board has remanded the claim due to inadequate VA medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's back disability. The case is returned for further evaluation and an adequate opinion.

The Veteran's claim of service connection for back disability was reopened, and the Board granted service connection for IVDS, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, and left L5-S1 disc herniation. The issues of bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to these conditions and leg length discrepancy secondary to his service-connected left knee disability were also granted.

The Board has granted TDIU on an extraschedular basis, finding that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities are of such severity to preclude all forms of substantially gainful employment.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection and compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 are remanded due to pre-decisional errors in previous decisions.

The Veteran has withdrawn all his appeals regarding the disability ratings for lumbosacral strain, left and right sciatic nerve radiculopathy. The Board dismissed these issues as a result.

The Veteran's appeals have been dismissed as he has requested the withdrawal of all pending appeals.

The Veteran's right shoulder disability was reduced from 30% to 20%, effective August 28, 2019. The appeal for restoration of the 30% rating is granted. The claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss are remanded.

The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's claimed back, right hip, left hip, right knee, and left knee disabilities due to his failure to report for scheduled VA examinations.

The Veteran's lumbar spine disability and sick sinus syndrome have been granted service connection. The lumbar spine disability is presumed due to continuous symptoms since service separation, while the sick sinus syndrome was not found to be related to in-service herbicide exposure or directly caused by any other condition.

The Board has remanded the cases for additional development regarding whether the Veteran's thoracolumbar and cervical spine disorders existed prior to service and were aggravated by service.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection and a higher rating for his lumbar spine disability, as well as his requests to reopen these claims. The TDIU claim is granted from March 17, 2022.

The Board has found that further remand is necessary to obtain the curriculum vitae of the VA examiners who provided opinions in April 2020, August 2020 (two separate exams), September 2020, November 2020, and May 2021. The Veteran and his attorney will be notified if these documents cannot be obtained.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability, finding that his current back disability is etiologically related to his active duty service.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU were denied, as the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings.,SMC based on need for regular aid and attendance of another person was also denied.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to inadequate VA opinions and potential health issues preventing in-person examinations.

The Veteran requested to withdraw his appeal regarding an increased disability rating for degenerative disc disease, lumbar spine with intervertebral disc syndrome. The Board dismissed the appeal as a result.