The Board determined that the veteran's current back disorder is not related to his service, including a claimed injury in Japan in 1951.
The deciding factor: There is no competent medical evidence linking the veteran's current back condition to an incident during service or any presumptive exposure basis.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disk disease, Degenerative lumbar spondylosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2002
- Citation
- 0203120
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0203120.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a neck disorder to obtain an adequate VA medical opinion addressing the nature and etiology of the Veteran's current neck condition, including whether it is related to her military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is currently rated at 40 percent from December 12, 2022 onwards. The Board found that a higher rating was not warranted prior to this date.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for increased evaluations for his lumbosacral spine disability was denied. The RO found that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the applicable diagnostic codes.
- Denied
The Veteran's back condition, rated at 40 percent since April 20, 2018, is not entitled to a higher rating as the evidence does not show forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine of 30 degrees or less.
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