The Board found that new and material evidence had been received to reopen the veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability, but ultimately denied the claim as there was no evidence of an etiological relationship between the veteran's current back disability and his period of active duty service.
The deciding factor: The June 2004 VA examination report stated that it was less likely as not that the veteran's back symptoms in service were causative of the veteran's current degenerative changes in the lumbar spine.
- Claimed conditions
- back disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0902515
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · 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 0902515.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims of service connection for a back disability, endometriosis, thyroid condition, and chronic fatigue syndrome due to new evidence submitted since the last final denial. The claims are now considered on their merits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to incomplete service treatment records and a need for additional VA examination. The Veteran's back disability is being reviewed again with new evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for back, hip, and lower extremity disabilities due to a lack of VA examination and outstanding treatment records. The Veteran's current diagnoses and lay statements will be considered in determining if his conditions are related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's adenocarcinoma of the colon is granted as secondary to his service-connected other specified trauma and stressor related disorder to include alcohol use disorder. The back disability claim is remanded for further development.
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