The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy and a compensable evaluation for his lumbar muscle strain, finding that there was no evidence of radiculopathy during service or related to service-connected disability. The Veteran's current back pain is attributed to degenerative changes in his spine.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not find any evidence of bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy and the examiner opined that the Veteran's current lumbar symptoms are due to natural progression of his pre-existing degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis, rather than service-connected disability or a fall during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar Muscle Strain, Degenerative Disc Disease and Osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- August 15, 2011
- Citation
- 1130259
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 1130259.
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