Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2022

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's low back disorder, including whether it is related to service or secondary to his service-connected right and left knee osteoarthritis.

The Veteran's appeal includes multiple issues related to her service-connected disabilities, including a gynecological disorder and various musculoskeletal conditions. The Board has determined that additional development is needed for these claims due to the need for medical opinions regarding the etiology of the gynecological disorder and the current severity of the psychiatric disorder, headache disability, lumbar spine disability, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, and TDIU. The Veteran's claims are being remanded for these purposes.

The Veteran's service connection claim for degenerative arthritis, lumbar spine with degenerative disc disease is granted. The claim for a skin condition of the bilateral hands is denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of private medical records and issues related to bilateral lower extremity radiculopathies.

The Veteran's service-connected degenerative joint disease and disc disease at L4-L5 and L5-S1 of the lumbar spine is granted a disability rating of 20 percent, effective from November 15, 2012.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disorder is caused or aggravated by his service-connected right and left ankle disorders.

The Veteran's claim for increased evaluations and separate compensable ratings for his lumbar spine, lower extremity restless leg syndrome, and testicular varicocele conditions was denied. The RO granted a 20% evaluation effective October 27, 2021.

The Board has remanded the cases for additional development due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and low back disability.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for hypertension, right shoulder disorder, BUE radiculopathy, lumbar spine disorder, and BLE radiculopathy due to inadequate medical opinions addressing causation and aggravation.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding whether the Veteran's cervical spine disorder is caused or aggravated by his service-connected left shoulder status post subluxation and right shoulder arthritis.

The Board has granted service connection for a low back disability and TDIU, but remanded the issue of service connection for a headache disability.,Service connection for a low back disability is granted based on evidence showing it was incurred during active duty. The Veteran's unemployability due to his service-connected disabilities is also granted.

The Veteran's claims for hypertension and an acquired psychiatric disorder have been reopened, with the latter being recharacterized as a claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability to include anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Service connection has been granted for tinnitus.,Service connection is remanded for various conditions including hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (anxiety, depression, PTSD), sleep apnea, prostate disability due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, a skin condition of the stomach, head disability (headaches), coronary artery disease, strokes, enlarged kidney due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, both hands locking up, gout of the right and left foot, knot under the right cheek, sea sickness, and sleep disorder.

The Board has remanded several issues for further development, including investigating the Veteran's service in Korea and Kuwait, obtaining his complete military personnel records, and obtaining any outstanding VA and private treatment records. The claims for right hand frostbite, bilateral hand disability, back disability, acquired psychiatric disorder (including depression and/or PTSD), left knee disability, right knee disability, and bilateral hearing loss are all remanded.

The Veteran's claims for higher ratings for PTSD, bilateral pes planus, low back disability, and headache disability are being remanded due to the need for additional VA examinations.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional development of her VA treatment records, as well as requests for private medical records. The initial rating for LUE nerve disability remains denied.

The Board has decided to remand the claim for an increased rating of service-connected degenerative arthritis of the spine and lumbar DJD due to inadequate examinations in previous decisions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, finding that there is no evidence to support a relationship between her current condition and active duty service.

The Board denied a higher rating for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for ratings in excess of 10%, 20%, and 40% prior to December 3, 2019; from December 3, 2019, to June 7, 2021; and as of June 8, 2021, respectively.

The Board has granted service connection for right foot plantar fasciitis, left foot plantar fasciitis, mild hypertrophic facet arthrosis of the lower lumbar spine (lumbar spine disability), right knee degenerative arthritis, and left knee degenerative arthritis. The claims are based on direct evidence rather than a presumption or secondary service connection.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for the Veteran's back disability prior to January 16, 2020, as there was no evidence showing that the Veteran had forward flexion limited to 30 degrees or less, muscle spasms or guarding severe enough to cause his diagnosed scoliosis.