The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for a low back disorder due to new and material evidence. The veteran's current low back disorder is not shown to be related to his military service or any in-service occurrence or event, nor can it be presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents used in Vietnam. The skin infection issue has been denied as a matter of law. The PTSD claim was reduced from 70% to 50%, but the veteran is not entitled to restoration of the higher rating.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not establish that the current low back disorder is related to service or any in-service occurrence or event, nor can it be presumed to be related to exposure to herbicide agents used in Vietnam. The skin infection issue has been denied as a matter of law. The PTSD claim was reduced from 70% to 50%, but the veteran's current disability does not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- low_back_pain, osteopenia_of_lumbar_spine, osteoarthritis_of_lumbar_spine
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 22, 2003
- Citation
- 0301253
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0301253.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board found insufficient evidence to establish service connection for the Veteran's low back condition, as her in-service treatment records do not support a finding of an in-service injury or incident. The respiratory condition issue is marked as 'unknown' due to lack of relevant information.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability of the lower back and therefore, service connection for this condition cannot be granted.
- Denied
The Board found new and material evidence to reopen the claim for service connection for a low back disability, but denied the claims for right and left knee disabilities due to lack of relevant medical evidence. The Veteran's current lumbago was not related to her military service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability is not service-connected as it did not manifest during his active duty and there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease. The current condition was found to be due to a fall in 1981, which caused trauma to the cervical and thoracic spine.
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