The Board determined that the veteran's current back pain is caused by lumbar spondylosis, which was not incurred in active service and may not be presumed to have been incurred during active service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no spine degeneration shown on X-ray in 1977, supporting the conclusion that the current disorder is age-related rather than posttraumatic.
- Claimed conditions
- Back injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 13, 2002
- Citation
- 0218086
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 0218086.
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 issues for further development, including obtaining additional evidence and an adequate medical opinion regarding the Veteran's character of discharge and service connection claims.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, claimed as depression and a right knee condition. The claims for left knee condition, back injury, hypertension, headaches, sleep apnea, and surgical complications of pregnancy were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands all service connection claims for further development and to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for TBI (also claimed as breacher syndrome) and back injury to ensure compliance with VA's duty to assist by obtaining a VA examination and corresponding medical opinion.
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