The VA determined that there is no evidence linking the veteran's current disc disease of the lumbar spine to his service, and thus denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: VA medical opinions concluded that the veteran's current condition was not caused by an in-service injury or event.
- Claimed conditions
- Disc disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 23, 2006
- Citation
- 0618618
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0618618.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities render him unable to obtain or maintain substantially gainful employment due to his back disability, tinnitus, and allergic rhinitis.
- Whole decision: Granted
The veteran's lumbar spine disc disease was initially rated at 10 percent from September 1, 1994, to August 23, 1995. From August 24, 1995, the disability was rated at 20 percent.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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