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Denied

The Board found that the veteran's low back disorder was not incurred in service and any arthritis of the lumbar spine may not be presumed to have been so incurred.

The deciding factor: The May 2005 VA examiner diagnosed the veteran with herniated nucleus pulposus at L5-S1, but noted that there was no evidence linking his current condition to service.

Claimed conditions
Low back disorder (including arthritis of the lumbar spine)
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 15, 2006
Citation
0639136

Veterans Law Judge

SUSAN S. TOTH

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 0639136.

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