The Board denied service connection for a low back disability, including arthritis of the lumbar spine. The Veteran's service treatment records did not show any complaints or issues related to his back during service.,Service connection was also denied for hypertension as there is no evidence showing it was incurred in service and no presumption applies due to herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not sustain a disease, injury, or event related to the low back during service. There were no complaints of back issues on separation examination, and his service treatment records are silent regarding any such issue.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder (including arthritis), Hypertension, Residuals of excision of submandibular gland
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 4, 2013
- Citation
- 1335330
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 1335330.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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