The Board has determined that the Veteran's current low back disorder, including degenerative disc disease, was not incurred in or aggravated by service and arthritis may not be presumed to have been so incurred. The preponderance of evidence is against the claim.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found it less likely than not that the Veteran's low back disorder was related to service due to a break in symptomatology post-service, including the absence of treatment for more than 20 years after discharge from service and the lack of documentation of such symptoms for twenty years thereafter.
- Claimed conditions
- Low Back Disorder, Degenerative Disc Disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 7, 2010
- Citation
- 1020974
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 1020974.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
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- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD, an earlier effective date for service connection for PTSD, and service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a low back disorder.
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