The veteran's low back disorder and anxiety and dysthymic disorders are related to conditions identified in service, granting service connection for both.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the current disabilities were at least as likely as not aggravated by military service, and there is clear evidence of a pre-existing condition without clear and unmistakable evidence it was not aggravated during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Anxiety disorder, not otherwise specified (NOS), Dysthymic disorder, Low back disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- May 1, 2008
- Citation
- 0814455
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (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 0814455.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back disorder. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, bilateral knee disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the evidence did not show an in-service onset or relationship to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back disorder and bilateral knee disorders due to duty to assist errors prior to the rating decision on appeal. The Veteran is not prejudiced as a remand is necessary to correct these errors.
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