Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2025

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions to correct duty to assist errors, including obtaining additional medical opinions and evidence.

The Board denied an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for a back disability prior to September 21, 2021, and in excess of 20 percent from that date. However, the Board granted a 20 percent rating for sciatica affecting both lower extremities starting on September 21, 2021.

The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and remanded claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, left hip, left knee, left shoulder, lumbar spine, and left lower extremity nerve disabilities.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and assigned an effective date of March 20, 2020 for patellofemoral syndrome left knee, right knee limitation of flexion, and patellofemoral syndrome right knee. Other claims were denied.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for right hip arthroplasty, left hip arthroplasty, and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease status post laminectomy with residual pain to obtain additional medical opinions.

The Board granted service connection for a neck disability, low back disability, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy, and a neck scar.

The Board denied service connection for a back condition and neck condition due to the lack of evidence showing current diagnoses or symptoms related to these conditions during active service. The claim for dyspnea was remanded for further development.

The Veteran is granted TDIU and SMC at the housebound rate, as well as a 20 percent disability rating for both left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, effective June 1, 2021.

The Board denied the motion for revision of the August 8, 1990, Rating Decision on the basis that there was no clear and unmistakable error in denying service connection for a low back condition.

The Board denied a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss and a rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus, and remanded the claims for service connection for recurrent lumbar spine, right wrist, left wrist, and left foot disabilities.

The Veteran's appeal requests for the denial of service connection claims were denied as they were not timely filed.

The appeal for service connection for rheumatoid arthritis was dismissed, while ratings were restored for several conditions and a TDIU was granted.

The appeal for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was withdrawn and dismissed, while the claim for a lower back disability is remanded for further development.

The Board denied service connection for urinary tract infection and back disability, as well as initial ratings in excess of the assigned percentages for various conditions, including PTSD with bruxism, chronic urticaria, left hip strain, left knee meniscal tear, and TDIU.

The Board granted service connection for a low back disability, to include arthritis, IVDS, spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis, as well as bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the service-connected low back disability.

The Board granted a 30 percent disability rating for the Veteran's neck disability and a 40 percent disability rating for both the back and right shoulder disabilities effective October 17, 2020. The Veteran was also granted a 10 percent disability rating for irritable bowel syndrome effective February 27, 2020.

The Board granted an effective date for TDIU and SMC from September 1, 2017, but denied earlier effective dates for service connection of various conditions. It also granted a 10% rating for GERD starting July 5, 2016, and other ratings as detailed.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral pes planus, back disability as secondary to pes planus, right knee disability as secondary to pes planus, and left knee disability as secondary to pes planus. The Board remanded the claims of direct service connection for a back disability and knees.

The Veteran's appeal was withdrawn, and all claims were dismissed.

The Board remands the claims for further development and to correct a pre-decisional error of the duty to assist.