Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2025

The Board remanded the claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, to include PTSD, and increased ratings for the left knee due to new evidence being received.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for neck and back disabilities to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, specifically regarding the acquisition of relevant Social Security Administration (SSA) records.

The Board denied various claims for increased ratings, earlier effective dates, and other benefits due to the lack of evidence supporting a higher rating or an earlier effective date.

The Board remands the claim for service connection of the cause of the Veteran's death to obtain a medical opinion on the relationship between the Veteran's service-connected lower back disability and his multiple heart disabilities, including obesity.

The Board granted a 40 percent rating for degenerative disc disease with thoracic scoliosis/kyphosis and remanded the claim for service connection of sleep disorder, secondary to the back disability.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for a back disability, right leg radiculopathy, and right knee disability for additional development.

The Board remands the matter of entitlement to service connection for a low back disability for further development, including a VA examination.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and assigned a 20% rating for the Veteran's low back condition, while denying increased ratings for her psychiatric and neurological conditions.

The Board granted service connection for a low back condition, to include degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, and denied claims for compensable ratings for right ear hearing loss, service connection for left ear hearing loss, and service connection for scars on the right elbow and eyebrow.

The Board is remanding the claim for a low back disorder, claimed as lumbosacral strain, to ensure that VA obtains an examination that substantially complies with the Board's previous remand instructions.

The Board granted service connection for right foot pes planus, lumbosacral strain, left ankle disability manifested by pain, and tinnitus based on the evidence being approximately evenly balanced as to whether these conditions are related to the Veteran's active duty service.

The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for the back disability prior to April 13, 2017, and a 40 percent rating from August 2, 2019, to December 30, 2019, but denied higher ratings in other periods. The Board also remanded several service connection claims.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including a sleep disorder, cervical spine disability, low back disability, left thumb disability, right leg disability, and left ankle disability, to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran's claims.

The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to properly assess the severity of the knee and back disabilities during flare-ups and after repeated use over time.

The Board granted service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected back disability and granted increased ratings for left lower extremity radiculopathy and low back disability in certain periods.

The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various disorders, including shoulder, elbow, wrist, low back, knee, neuropathy, sleep apnea, heart, colon resection, skin cancer, and diabetes mellitus, due to inadequate VA examinations that did not address all relevant evidence.

The Board denied service connection for neck, low back, left hip, and right hip disabilities as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or caused by active military service.

The Board denied a higher rating for the Veteran's low back disability and remanded issues related to right lower extremity radiculopathy and service connection.

The Veteran was granted a TDIU from May 29, 2018, due to his service-connected PTSD and SMC from May 19, 2021.

The Board remands the matter for further development, including obtaining additional medical evidence and service records.