Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2023

The Veteran withdrew his appeal prior to the scheduled hearing, thus the case is dismissed.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection on multiple conditions have been dismissed due to his death.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for various disabilities, including back disability, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, left eye disability, left shoulder disability, and right shoulder disability. The decision is based on incomplete VA treatment records from the period of appeal.

The Board has denied service connection for the Veteran's back disability, left hip osteoarthritis, right hip osteoarthritis, LLE neuropathy, RLE neuropathy, and neck osteoarthritis. The evidence does not support a finding that any of these conditions are related to service.,The Board found no credible evidence linking current disabilities in the Veteran's back, hips, or nerves to his military service.

The Board has granted service connection for neck and back disabilities, but denied service connection for left and right knee disabilities.

The Board has remanded the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to new and relevant evidence. The claim for service connection for lower back disability is denied.,Service connection for a lower back disability is denied as there is no credible evidence of an in-service injury or disease, nor continuity of symptomatology since service.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including right knee osteoarthritis, left and right shoulder impingement syndrome, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, radiculopathy in the right lower extremity, femoral nerve radiculopathy, and right hip trochanteric syndrome with osteoarthritis, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. As such, he is granted TDIU.

The Board has determined that the VA examination is inadequate and remands both issues for further development, including a new VA examination.

The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine degenerative arthritis is granted a 10% rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy, but denied for other conditions.,Bilateral hearing loss and bilateral plantar fasciitis are not service connected.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection of bilateral hearing loss, bilateral plantar fasciitis, right hand condition, tinnitus, headaches as secondary to head/nose injury, lower back condition, and cervical spine disability due to an error in docketing under the AMA system.

The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection of back condition and right knee disorder before the Board could make a decision.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for her DDD of the lumbar spine and left lower extremity radiculopathy, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Codes 4.71a or 8520.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left shoulder, cervicothoracic spine pain with cephalgia, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, and left hip conditions. The evidence did not establish a nexus between these disabilities and military service.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back disability, neck disability, left knee disability, psychiatric disability, skin disability, respiratory disability (to include asbestosis), tinnitus, and bilateral hearing loss. The evidence did not meet the regulatory threshold for these disabilities.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's appeal regarding his service-connected low back disabilities and associated radiculopathy of the bilateral sciatic nerves requires additional evidence and examination. The TDIU appeal is also remanded for further development.

The Board has found the issues of TDIU and SMC to be remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining a vocational assessment and reviewing VA treatment records.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for a disorder manifested by high cholesterol has been dismissed due to her withdrawal of the appeal. The Board has remanded issues regarding back disorder, acquired psychiatric disorder (other than service-connected persistent depressive disorder), bilateral eye disorder, diabetes mellitus, type II, and hypertension.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not render him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment from June 7, 2017, to May 17, 2018.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for his neck and left upper extremity radiculopathy disabilities have been dismissed as the appellant withdrew his appeal prior to a decision being made.

The Board has determined that there are outstanding records of VA treatment that should be obtained and added to the claims file. The Veteran's complete and updated records of VA treatment should be requested and associated with the claims file.