Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2026

The Board has granted service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, right knee arthritis, and left knee arthritis. The claims for PTSD and radiculopathy are remanded.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus is dismissed as moot due to the concurrent grant of service connection in a previous rating decision.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability, diagnosed as lumbosacral strain, is granted.

The reduction of the 40 percent disability rating for the service-connected back disability to 20 percent effective May 1, 2025 was proper. The restoration of the 40 percent disability rating is denied.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for lumbosacral spine intervertebral disc syndrome, L5 S1 disc herniation, and strain residuals and thoracic spine strain residuals.,The Board also denied an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for left lower extremity sciatic and femoral nerve radiculopathy.

The Board denied the Veteran's request to extend his delimiting date for Chapter 33 education benefits, finding that he did not provide sufficient evidence of a physical or mental disability preventing him from initiating a program of education within one year of his May 2020 extension request.

The Board denied service connection for a lower and middle back disability, including degenerative arthritis of the spine, lumbar degenerative disc disease, spondylosis, and foraminal stenosis.,The Board also denied service connection for a neck disability, including degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine, cervical degenerative disc disease, spondylosis, foraminal stenosis, and anterolisthesis.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder is granted. The Board finds that the Veteran has a current lumbar spine disorder, diagnosed as lumbar spondylosis, spondylolisthesis, and degenerative disc disease, which is related to his military service.

Service connection for a left knee disability is dismissed.,Service connection for headaches is granted. Service connection for back, dental, neck, and psychiatric disabilities (PTSD and anxiety) are denied.,Entitlement to service connection for right knee disability remains pending.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbar spine, cervical spine, left hip pain, and right knee pain disabilities as secondary to his service-connected left knee disability.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability is related to his service, and therefore grants service connection for this condition.

The Board has granted service connection for low back pain, but denied service connection for bilateral shin splints and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy (secondary to low back pain). The Veteran's low back pain is found to be related to his military service. Bilateral shin splints and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy are not supported by current medical evidence.

The Board is unable to make a decision on the service connection claims without first determining whether the Appellant's misconduct was due to his psychiatric symptoms and obtaining a medical opinion regarding his mental status at the time of his misconduct.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's back and neck conditions are not related to her active duty service, but has remanded for further examination regarding her bilateral shoulder conditions, knee conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, and GERD.

The Board denied service connection for vision disorder, sleep disorder, fatigue, low back disorder, and bilateral hearing loss. The evidence did not support a finding of current disabilities or an in-service event that could be linked to these conditions.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for further medical examinations and evaluations. The issues include psychiatric disabilities, lumbosacral strain, plantar fasciitis, rheumatoid arthritis, prostate disability, erectile dysfunction, hearing loss, nasal disability, and pulmonary disability.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's mid-thoracic strain (back condition) and cervical strain (neck condition).,Both conditions are found to be related to the Veteran's active-duty service.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date of April 18, 1973 for service connection has been granted.,From July 5, 1979 to October 18, 2023, the Veteran is entitled to a 10 percent disability rating for his lumbar spine disability.

The Board has remanded three issues of service connection for a low back disorder, right knee disorder, and sleep apnea due to the lack of medical opinions considering the Veteran's lay statements about in-service injuries and toxic exposures.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for right eye, left eye, left knee, and back disabilities due to conflicting statements from the Veteran and inconsistencies in his medical records.

The Board has granted service connection for left ankle disability, back disability, and sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right ankle disability. The hearing loss claim was denied.