Back / lumbar spine Board decisions

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and rating issues related to psychiatric disability, low back disability, right knee disability, left knee disability, and left thumb disability. The Veteran's disabilities are being examined again to determine their etiology and severity.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for various conditions due to inadequate VA opinions and potential duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran's claim for hepatosplenomegaly is denied as there is no evidence of this condition during or near the pendency of his appeal.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and rating issues related to psychiatric disability, low back disability, right knee disability, left knee disability, and left thumb disability. The Veteran's disabilities are being examined again to determine their etiology and severity.

The Board has found that the Veteran does not have current disabilities for which service connection can be granted, including headaches, residuals of a fractured left thumb, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and various hip and back conditions. The claims are being remanded to obtain additional medical records and determine if there is any link between these conditions and service.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for ratings and service connection related to various back, knee, and respiratory conditions due to a lack of a valid Notice of Disagreement (NOD) filed by the Veteran or their representative.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability have been denied. The Board has also remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right shoulder disability and a low back disability.,Service connection was not granted as there is no evidence of a current diagnosable psychiatric disability or left/right knee disabilities related to active service.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for low back disability, finding that his current condition is related to his active duty service and resolving all reasonable doubt in his favor.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors and a need for a VA examination.

The Veteran's hypertension is granted as presumptively related to herbicide agent exposure. The claims for right upper extremity, left upper extremity, and right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy are denied due to lack of current diagnoses.

The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence was not received to warrant readjudication of the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back condition, right leg pain, left leg pain, depression, right wrist carpal tunnel syndrome, and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome. The decision is based on the evidence available at the time of the March 2022 supplemental claim rating decision.

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

The appeals for the proposed decreases in evaluations for right and left knee strains with arthritis are dismissed. The claims of service connection for a lumbar spine disability, bilateral plantar fasciitis, left wrist joint pain, eye disability, and TDIU are remanded.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and a low back disability due to duty-to-assist errors that occurred prior to the January 2022 rating decision on appeal. The AOJ will consider any evidence submitted after the AOJ decision in the adjudication of these claims.

The Board denied service connection for a low back disability, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and active service. The claim was also denied for secondary service connection due to lack of service connection for the Veteran's left foot strain.

The Veteran's cause of death, a hemorrhagic stroke, is determined to be related to his service-connected disabilities. The Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether these service-connected conditions contributed to the Veteran's death.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for lumbar spine, left shoulder, right shoulder, left knee, right knee, and ankle disabilities due to a lack of evidence showing these conditions originated during or were otherwise related to his military service.

The Veteran's right shoulder and lumbar spine disabilities are granted as service-connected. The claims for left knee, right knee, and right wrist conditions are remanded.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back, right knee, left knee, right hip, and left hip conditions due to insufficient medical opinions regarding secondary service connection.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for the assignment of a 20 percent disability rating for his cervical and lumbar spine conditions have been dismissed as the Board has already granted these ratings effective October 23, 2013.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating more than 10 percent for her service-connected lumbosacral strain with thoracic spine injury is remanded due to inadequate VA examinations.