The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar sprain, to include degenerative changes of the lumbosacral spine, finding that there was no medical evidence establishing a nexus between his current disability and his in-service injuries.
The deciding factor: The VA expert opinion concluded that the veteran's current degenerative changes were more likely related to normal aging rather than his service-connected injury.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar sprain, degenerative changes of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2006
- Citation
- 0639553
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,177 · Granted: 24% (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 0639553.
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 argues that he should have been granted service connection for lumbar sprain and hearing loss as early as 1965 based on his STRs showing these conditions existed in service. The Board finds the RO's failure to adjudicate this CUE claim was an error and remands the matter.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of October 2, 2015 for the grant of service connection for lumbar sprain and right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy due to good cause shown for the Veteran's failure to file a Notice of Disagreement within one year of the initial denial.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for her hip and lumbar sprain conditions, finding that the evidence did not support higher disability ratings.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood, GERD, contact dermatitis, left ankle gout, degenerative changes of the lumbosacral spine, left knee meniscal tear and gout, left big toe gout, left elbow gout, status post cervical fusion, and sleep apnea, as they are related to active duty training (ACDUTRA).
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