The Board has determined that the Veteran's acquired back disorder, diagnosed as degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine and degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, is not related to his service. The claim for service connection for an acquired back disorder must be denied.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of an acquired back disorder during service or of arthritis for many years thereafter, and the VA examiner found that the Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine is not related to his service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired back disorder, Degenerative disc disease of thoracolumbar spine, Degenerative joint disease of lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2015
- Citation
- 1511268
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 1511268.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher disability rating for his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine is remanded due to insufficient evidence and need for further examination.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability other than PTSD, as his manifestations of any additional claimed acquired psychiatric disability are not clearly distinguishable from his service-connected PTSD. The appeal is remanded for further development on several orthopedic issues.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a low back disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between his current condition and his military service. The Board noted that while the Veteran reported recurrent back pain during service, medical records did not show any chronic conditions or diagnoses related to this issue until after separation from service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for a rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine and remanded the issue of service connection for cervical spine disorder due to potential secondary relationship.
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