The Board has determined that the veteran's current degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine is related to his service, specifically an incident in 1987 where he fell from a vehicle and landed on his back. The claim for service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of a nexus between the veteran's initial period of service (1966-1969) and his current degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, but noted that there was an 18-year gap in treatment. The Board resolved this doubt in favor of the veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2006
- Citation
- 0613228
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 0613228.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, right and left lower extremity neurological disorders, and right and left hip disabilities as they were not shown to be caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service or a service-connected disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial evaluation of 20 percent for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine prior to December 28, 2010, and denied a rating in excess of 40 percent as of that date.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of September 14, 2018, for the award of a 40 percent disability rating for service-connected degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine but denied entitlement to TDIU.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support a higher disability rating or establish service connection for any of the claimed conditions.
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