The Board found that the appellant's low back and neck disabilities are more likely due to a civilian injury in August 1988, rather than an in-service injury in September 1984.
The deciding factor: The VA compensation examination concluded that the current disabilities are less likely related to the service-connected injury from INACDUTRA.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back/lumbar spine disability, Neck/cervical spine disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 18, 2013
- Citation
- 1322976
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 1322976.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back and neck/cervical spine disabilities due to insufficient medical opinions addressing continuity of symptoms since service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of his claimed disabilities, including whether they are related to exposure to Agent Orange during service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
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