The Board determined that new and material evidence had not been received to reopen the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a back disorder, and found that ankylosing spondylitis, a fracture at T10, and scoliosis were not due to disease or injury during military service.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence showed that ankylosing spondylitis, a fracture at T10, and scoliosis were first clinically manifest years after the veteran's discharge from active service in November 1970; they were not shown to be due to disease or injury during military service.
- Claimed conditions
- ankylosing spondylitis, fracture at T10, scoliosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2006
- Citation
- 0601150
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of a 70 percent rating for PTSD and granted an effective date of May 31, 2004, but no earlier, for the award of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a new VA examination and medical opinion to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claim for service connection for scoliosis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an initial disability rating higher than 40 percent for lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome, degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease, spondylosis with moderate-severe foraminal spinal stenosis and scoliosis to obtain a retrospective medical opinion addressing the severity of the Veteran's lumbar spine disability from August 24, 2012, to June 24, 2020.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for scoliosis and found that the reduction in the combined disability rating for bulging discs in the lumbar spine, lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis of the spine, and spondylosis from 40 percent to 10 percent was proper.
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