The VA determined that there was insufficient new and material evidence to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection for a lower back disability. The Board found that the veteran had indeed submitted such evidence, but concluded that his current back condition is not related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA medical examiner did not find any evidence linking the veteran's current back disability to his military service or any incidents therein.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar segment of the spine, lower back strain
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 6, 2006
- Citation
- 0616457
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,514 · Granted: 19% (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 0616457.
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- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right hammer toe, left hammer toe, lower back strain, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (depression) as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses of these conditions during the pendency of the claim or approximate to its initiation.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for lower back strain, radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities, service connection for hearing loss in the left ear, and obstructive sleep apnea have been dismissed.,An increased rating of 40 percent, but not higher, has been granted for chronic urinary tract infection to include urge incontinence (previously claimed as frequent urination) from October 15, 2018.
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