The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of June 13, 1997 for service connection of a thoracic spine disability. The decision was based on the fact that no appeal was filed from the June 1990 denial of service connection for mechanical low back pain.
The deciding factor: The veteran did not file an appeal from the June 1990 decision denying service connection for mechanical low back pain, which is a prerequisite to filing an earlier effective date claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracic spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- September 22, 2004
- Citation
- 0426293
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 0426293.
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 has denied service connection for memory loss disability, cervical spine disability, and thoracic spine disability. The case is remanded to obtain medical opinions regarding the relationship between these disabilities and service or any related conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a thoracic spine disability but denied it for a lumbar spine disability, claimed as displacement of the lumbar disc with degenerative disc disease and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, dismissed the claim for a thoracic spine disability, and granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain and meniscal tear, left hip strain as secondary to a service-connected thoracolumbar lumbar spine disorder, and a generalized anxiety disorder and other specified depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for lumbar and thoracic spine disabilities due to a lack of adequate medical evidence linking these conditions to service or a service-connected disability.
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