The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, finding that it is secondary to his service-connected right and left knee disabilities. The decision also notes that reasonable doubt was resolved in favor of the Veteran.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established based on the opinion provided by the Veteran's treating VA physician who opined that the current low back disability is causally related to the service-connected right and left knee disabilities, which have caused limited ambulation and an altered gait for the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 5, 2016
- Citation
- 1626685
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 1626685.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate examinations and the need for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability, diagnosed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, is related to service and granted service connection for this condition.
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