The Board found no evidence of a thoracolumbar spine injury or disease in service, and that the onset of a thoracolumbar spine disability did not occur until years after separation. The Veteran's claim for service connection was denied.
The deciding factor: No in-service injury or disease related to the claimed thoracolumbar spine disability could be established due to lack of evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 24, 2013
- Citation
- 1317219
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 1317219.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine and left knee traumatic arthritis have been dismissed as he withdrew his appeal prior to a scheduled hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, PTSD, and degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine, finding that it was incurred during active duty.
- Granted
Service connection for a lumbar spine disability currently diagnosed as degenerative joint disease of the thoracolumbar spine, lumbar spondylosis, and degeneration of lumbar intervertebral disc is granted.,Service connection for fibromyalgia is granted. Effective October 30, 2015, a rating of 50 percent, but no higher, for tension headaches is granted.,Effective October 30, 2015, the effective date for service connection for TMJ (claimed as right jaw) is set at July 13, 2004. A TDIU is also granted.
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