The Board has granted the Veteran's claim of reopening his claim for service connection for the residuals of a back injury and has determined that he is entitled to service connection for thoracolumbar spine disability, diagnosed primarily as degenerative disc disease at T6-T7 and lumbosacral strain. The issue of entitlement to service connection for shoulder nerve pain and numbness remains pending.
The deciding factor: The VA Appeals Management Center (AMC) confirmed the denial of the Veteran's application to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for the residuals of a back injury, but did not address the issue of service connection for shoulder nerve pain and numbness. The Board has now granted the reopening of the claim and determined that the Veteran is entitled to service connection for thoracolumbar spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a back injury, thoracolumbar spine disability, shoulder nerve pain and numbness
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 28, 2009
- Citation
- 0919990
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 0919990.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities due to a predecisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's past medical history needs to be considered in the new examination.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disorder, gout, multiple painful joints, bilateral ankle disorder, bilateral knee disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as directly related to service.,The Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disability and cervical spine disability are both granted as directly related to service.,Both conditions were found to be at least as likely as not caused by the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for special monthly compensation based on need for aid and attendance or housebound status.
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