The Board found that the veteran's current back disorders are not related to his military service and denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show a link between the veteran's current back problems and his military service, including lack of in-service complaints or treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracic kyphosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 13, 2004
- Citation
- 0418588
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 541 · Granted: 32% (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 0418588.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for service connection was dismissed as he did not submit a valid Notice of Disagreement or new and material evidence regarding the effective date.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a low back disability and a cervical spine disability, finding that the evidence was in equipoise regarding their incurrence during active duty.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection of various conditions as they were premature, and denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and a migraine headache disability.
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