The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for back disability based on new and material evidence, including a VA physician's statement that X-rays showed arthritic changes of the low back during service. The Board also found that the Veteran's current low back pain is multifactorial but not dissociated from his in-service injuries.
The deciding factor: The newly received medical opinion established chronic disability and raised a reasonable possibility of its relation to in-service injury, which was sufficient to reopen the claim for service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 16, 2010
- Citation
- 1030580
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 1030580.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for right lower extremity (RLE) radiculopathy but remanded the back disability claim for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including an acquired psychiatric disability, headaches, a back disability, heart disability, and residuals of a stroke, as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to the Veteran's active service or caused by his service-connected left ear disabilities.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the claims for an initial compensable rating for left ear sensorineural hearing loss, service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability, and a left eye disorder. However, it granted service connection for a back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities as secondary to the back disability.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for the right ankle disability, but remanded claims for service connection for sinusitis and back disability.
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