The Board found no medical evidence linking the veteran's back and neck conditions to service, resulting in a denial of his claims.
The deciding factor: Service records showed that the veteran received treatment for lower back pain after an accident during service but did not show any significant re-injury. The condition was attributed to expected natural progression post-service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine at L5-S1, C6-7 radiculitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 27, 2006
- Citation
- 0622335
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,613 · Granted: 30% (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 0622335.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine at L5-S1 is remanded due to inadequate examination findings and need for a new one.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine at L5-S1 is now rated at 40 percent from May 4, 2018. His right and left lower extremity radiculopathy are each rated at 30 percent beginning May 4, 2018.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine at L5-S1 is being remanded for additional development.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his service-connected cervical and lumbar spine disabilities, finding that they did not meet the criteria for a rating in excess of 10 percent.
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