The Board found that the veteran's current low back disability is congenital in origin and not incurred during service. Therefore, the claim for service connection was denied.
The deciding factor: The examiner opined that the veteran sustained a simple lumbar strain injury to his lower back while on active duty, but the current diagnosis of spondylosis at L5 with spondylolisthesis grade 2 is not a result of trauma or an exacerbation of a pre-existing condition.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral spondylosis, L5 with spondylolisthesis, L5 on S1
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 8, 2006
- Citation
- 0638348
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (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 0638348.
What this means for you
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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 appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and a VA examination to assess the severity of his low back disability. The TDIU claim will also be considered.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for left S1 radiculopathy, lumbar myositis, grade I spondylolisthesis, L5-S1, with associated bilateral spondylosis, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine.
- Denied
The Veteran is granted an effective date of January 29, 1993 for service connection for bilateral spondylosis.,The Veteran's claim for TDIU prior to July 29, 2004 is denied.,The Veteran's claim for DEA benefits eligibility prior to July 29, 2004 is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for left S1 radiculopathy, lumbar myositis, grade I spondylolisthesis, L5-S1, with associated bilateral spondylosis, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine was granted. The other claims related to infertility and major depressive disorder were not pursued or addressed in this decision.
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