The Veteran's low back disability is found to be related to his active service, and he is granted service connection for this condition. His bilateral knee and ankle disabilities are not found to be related to his active service.
The deciding factor: Service treatment records noted a history of recurrent back pain during the Veteran's period of active duty, which was confirmed by subsequent VA examinations and medical literature indicating that a solitary episode of low back strain could lead to diffuse degenerative joint disease with spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1.
- Claimed conditions
- Low Back Disability, Bilateral Knee Disability, Bilateral Ankle Disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2010
- Citation
- 1004596
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 1004596.
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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The Board denied the claims for service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, a low back disability, a left knee disability, and a left shoulder disability as there was no evidence to support that these conditions were incurred in or caused by the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, low back disability, and associated nerve pain due to a pre-decisional error in failing to adequately address lay statements regarding the onset of symptoms.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for sinusitis, bronchitis, liver abscess, abdominal aorta, left and right hamstring disabilities. The Board granted an increased disability rating of 40 percent for right upper extremity radiculopathy but denied all other claims.
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