The Board found that the Veteran's back disability is not related to his active service and denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence did not establish a link between the Veteran's current degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine and his military service, including any in-service injury or exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 30, 2011
- Citation
- 1137194
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 1137194.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine, effective February 2, 2020.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 40 percent rating for degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine and a separate 10 percent rating from March 21, 2016 to October 20, 2024 for right lower extremity radiculopathy associated with the service-connected lumbosacral spine condition. The claim for an increased rating for the right shoulder acromioclavicular separation was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and effective dates, as well as a TDIU claim, due to additional evidence received after the last SOC and the need for an updated examination.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation prior to December 7, 2011.
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