Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2025

The Board granted service connection for left knee, right knee, right shoulder, and back disabilities but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

The Board granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability and denied an initial compensable rating for right foot hammer toes, while remanding the claim for service connection for hepatitis.

The Board remands the claims for readjudication based on new and relevant evidence received since previous denials.

The Board granted service connection for chronic low back pain and denied service connection for left knee pain, right knee pain, left hip chronic pain, and right hip chronic pain.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and assigned a 40 percent rating for lumbar degenerative arthritis prior to August 29, 2019.

The Board granted a 20 percent rating for lumbosacral strain but denied ratings in excess of 10 percent for left lower extremity radiculopathy and service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, tension headaches, testicular torsion, and bilateral hearing loss.

The Board granted service connection for hypertension, major depressive disorder, and somatic symptom disorder but denied service connection for a back disability. The claims for other conditions were remanded.

The Veteran's four left shoulder post-surgical scars are granted a 20 percent rating, but no higher. The remaining claims for increased ratings are remanded.

The Board granted an earlier effective date of July 30, 2013, for the award of a TDIU on an extraschedular basis.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 40 percent for lumbar strain, a rating in excess of 10 percent for residuals of cholecystectomy, and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss. A 20 percent rating was granted for laparotomy scars, abdomen.

The Board remands the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased rating, as well as the claim for TDIU, to provide further development of evidence.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for carpal tunnel syndrome, bulimia, and lumbosacral strain.

The Board remands the claims for a higher rating for lumbar degenerative disc disease and service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy, as secondary to the back disability.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, lumbosacral degenerative arthritis and degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), neck degenerative arthritis and degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), and an initial compensable rating for acquired psychiatric disorder including major depressive disorder (MDD).

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a right hip disability and low back disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors, specifically failing to obtain medical examinations and opinions.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the claim for lumbar spinal stenosis due to a duty to assist error.

The Veteran's service connection for right foot arthritis, degenerative (claimed as tendonitis), was granted for the period prior to July 29, 2023. Other claims were remanded.

The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grant of a higher evaluation and service connection for lower extremity radiculopathy associated with the Veteran's back disability. A 20 percent rating was granted for right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, effective August 3, 2021.

The Veteran withdrew the appeal before a decision was issued, and all service connection claims were dismissed.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to a rating in excess of 10 percent for mechanical low back pain and lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease L3-4, as well as service connection claims for right and left lower extremity radiculopathy, due to insufficient evidence regarding the impact of medication on disability symptoms and inadequate medical opinions addressing causation and aggravation separately.