The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a low back injury, as there was no evidence that his current chronic low back disorder was related to active duty.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's low back complaints in service were acute and transitory and resolved without chronic residuals. The current chronic low back disorder, diagnosed degenerative disc disease (DDD), was not shown until several years after service and is not related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of a low back injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 4, 2009
- Citation
- 0903989
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,162 · 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 0903989.
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 Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to fully and fairly consider the Veteran's claims, including obtaining VA treatment records and scheduling him for examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's current disabilities are related to service and to rate his left knee disability.
- Granted
The Board finds that the veteran's current back disability is more likely than not due to in-service manifestations and grants service connection.
- Partly granted
The veteran's service connection for residuals of a low back injury was granted, while the claims for an initial evaluation in excess of 30 percent for anxiety disorder with somatic features and for service connection for residuals of a hip injury were denied.
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