The Board finds that the veteran has a current back disability and grants service connection for chronic lumbar syndrome, bilateral L5 and S1 radiculopathy, and central disc protrusion at L5-S1. The claim for psychiatric disorder is denied.
The deciding factor: The positive private medical opinions linking a current back disability to service are as probative as the negative VA opinions weighing against such a conclusion.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral L5 and S1 radiculopathy, central disc protrusion at L5-S1, chronic lumbar syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 24, 2006
- Citation
- 0615225
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,377 · Granted: 17% (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 0615225.
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 Veteran's back disability and left leg radiculopathy are currently rated at 10% each, but the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims of increased ratings for various service-connected disabilities are remanded due to the need for additional examinations and evaluations.,The Veteran's cervical spine disability claim is also remanded as an adequate VA examination was not provided in the previous February 2015 neck conditions examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a VA annual clothing allowance in 2015 is granted because his back brace, used due to service-connected chronic lumbar syndrome, causes wear and tear on his clothing.
- Granted
The Veteran's initial and increased ratings for tinnitus and chronic lumbar syndrome, status post lumbar discectomy were granted. The rating for the back disability was increased to 20 percent.
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