The Board finds that service connection for a low back disorder, to include degenerative joint and disc disease of the lumbosacral spine, is warranted based on credible lay evidence of an in-service injury followed by chronic pain since then.
The deciding factor: If the veteran was telling the truth about his in-service injury, it is as likely as not that his current back condition began during service. Resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran, the Board finds that service connection for a low back disorder is warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disorder, degenerative joint and disc disease of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 12, 2009
- Citation
- 0901215
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0901215.
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.
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- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for dermatitis/eczema, sleep apnea, a psychiatric disorder (including MDD and PTSD), hypertension, COPD, low back disorder, and prostate cancer are all granted. The Board found that the evidence supported these determinations based on direct service connection.
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