The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and a neck disability, finding that new and material evidence had not been submitted to reopen the claim for a low back disability, and that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease related to the current neck disability.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's low back condition pre-existed service and was not aggravated by it. For the neck disability, there was no evidence linking the current condition to any incident during active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- spondylolisthesis and lumbosacral spondylosis (low back disability), neck disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0904524
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0904524.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claim for service connection of a neck disability due to pre-decisional error in not obtaining a VA examination and medical opinion.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for neck and back disabilities due to a lack of medical evidence supporting the Veteran's assertions. The VA will obtain an examination and provide an opinion on whether these disabilities are related to service.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for left leg shin splints, right leg shin splints, back disability, and neck disability due to insufficient evidence in the record regarding these conditions.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for neck and back disabilities, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his military service.
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