The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for a low back disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease and that any current condition is not related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of a pre-existing condition worsening during service and noted that the appellant had a congenital defect at L5. The Board concluded that the low back disability was not incurred in service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low Back Disability
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 13, 2002
- Citation
- 0211964
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 0211964.
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.
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The Board denied the claims for service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, a low back disability, a left knee disability, and a left shoulder disability as there was no evidence to support that these conditions were incurred in or caused by the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, low back disability, and associated nerve pain due to a pre-decisional error in failing to adequately address lay statements regarding the onset of symptoms.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for sinusitis, bronchitis, liver abscess, abdominal aorta, left and right hamstring disabilities. The Board granted an increased disability rating of 40 percent for right upper extremity radiculopathy but denied all other claims.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating higher than 70 percent for PTSD and remanded several service connection claims, including dyspnea, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, obstructive sleep apnea, low back disability, and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve.
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