The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disorder. The Board finds that the Veteran's current low back disorder is related to his military service, and thus grants service connection effective July 27, 2009.
The deciding factor: The Veteran provided credible lay statements of in-service injuries and a VA examiner opined that the Veteran's current condition was less likely caused by an in-service injury. However, the Board affords little weight to this opinion due to its inaccurate factual premise and lack of clear rationale. The Board also considered the Veteran's service treatment records which contain multiple references to low back pain, as well as lay statements from the Veteran and a fellow soldier. Therefore, the Board finds that the evidence supports a finding that the current condition is related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low Back Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 28, 2015
- Citation
- 1518176
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 1518176.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
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