The Board found that a back disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service, arthritis of the spine may not be presumed to have been incurred in service, and a back disorder was not proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disability. The simple chip fracture of the right foot did not meet the criteria for a 10% rating.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions provided evidence that the current back disorder is unrelated to service or a service-connected disability, and the simple chip fracture of the right foot does not warrant an increased rating.
- Claimed conditions
- back injury, arthritis of the back
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2004
- Citation
- 0402619
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,242 · Granted: 26% (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 0402619.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection of various conditions as secondary to left ankle condition due to an improper concurrent election in a previous appeal.
- Dismissed
The appeal has been dismissed due to the death of the Appellant, and no decision can be made on the underlying claims.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, but the claims for back injury and radiculopathy of the right leg are remanded due to insufficient evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim of service connection for a back disability is remanded due to the need for an orthopedic examination to determine the nature and likely etiology of his claimed condition. The examiner must identify each diagnosed back disability entity, its likely etiology, and whether it is at least as likely as not related to service.
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