The Board finds that the veteran's low back disorder, including mechanical lumbar back pain, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, L5-S1 fusion, and a loss of lordosis in the lumbar spine, is at least as likely as not related to his active military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the veteran's low back disorder was incurred during service and exacerbated by a post-service fall in 1968.
- Claimed conditions
- mechanical lumbar back pain, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, L5-S1 fusion, loss of lordosis in the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 18, 2005
- Citation
- 0519501
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 0519501.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability was rated at 40% prior to September 28, 2018. From that date, the rating was increased to 50%. The earlier effective date for TDIU is denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher level of SMC was denied as he does not meet the criteria for any additional levels of SMC based on his service-connected disabilities.
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