Back / lumbar spine Board decisions

The Board has determined that the veteran's claimed conditions, including hypertension, low back disability, and bilateral knee disability, are not service-connected. The evidence does not show their onset during active service or for many years thereafter, and there is no indication of a causal relationship to military service.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claims for service connection for low back disorder and right shoulder bursitis, finding new and material evidence. The rating of 20 percent for residuals of a right knee injury with tear of the lateral meniscus remains unchanged.

The veteran is seeking service connection for low back and right hip disabilities, which he claims are secondary to his service-connected flat feet. The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to clarify whether the veteran's current conditions have been aggravated by his service-connected condition.

The Board has determined that the veteran's appeal is mixed, with some issues granted and others denied. The veteran was granted service connection for various conditions but had his hearing loss rating continued at noncompensable level.

The Board has remanded the veteran's claims for a low back disability and stomach disability due to additional development of evidence.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to VCAA notification and rating criteria changes, as well as for a VA examination.

The VA denied an increased rating for low back strain, currently evaluated at 40 percent.

The Board has granted service connection and assigned initial ratings for the veteran's bipolar disorder, migraine and tension headaches, and lumbosacral strain. The initial rating of 50% for bipolar disorder is maintained.

The veteran's claim for higher compensation for low back pain with lumbar strain and pain of the pelvis, left leg and left hip is being remanded due to the need for additional development.

The Board found that the appellant's chronic degenerative disc disease with disc interspace narrowing at C3-C6 and mild hypertrophic arthritic spurring was not incurred in or aggravated by active military service, and therefore denied his claim for service connection.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been submitted to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection of a low back disorder. The October 1997 rating decision denying this claim is considered final.

The Board denied service connection for a low back disability and awarded initial compensable evaluations of 10 percent each for a dislocated left patella and a right 2nd toe fracture.

The veteran's mechanical low back pain with arthritis is rated at 20 percent since September 20, 2000. The appeal for secondary service connection for cervical and thoracic spine disorders was granted.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete evidence and further development is required before a decision can be made on the service connection claim for a low back condition.

The veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions have been denied. The intertwined claim of secondary service connection for herniated nucleus pulposus of the lumbar spine with radiation to the lower extremities must be addressed first.

The veteran seeks compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine with radiculopathy, alleging medical negligence by VA doctors during a left C6/C7 hemilaminectomy and nerve root decompression surgery in July 2001 at the Durham, North Carolina VA Medical Center. The claim is remanded due to incomplete records from SSA and the VA Medical Center.

The veteran's claim for a higher rating for degenerative disc disease, C3-6, with paresthesias of the left arm remains before the Board after a previous increase to 40 percent. The case is remanded due to the need for a new VA cervical spine examination.

The Board found that the veteran's heart disease was not incurred in or aggravated by service, nor may it be presumed to have been incurred therein. The right knee disability is denied as there is no clear evidence of a nexus between the current condition and service.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for scheduling a personal hearing at the RO before a Decision Review Officer.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a lower back condition and left knee disability, as well as his claim for a compensable initial rating for residuals of fragment wound to the right scapular area. The effective date issue is also pending.