The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability, including arthritis of the lumbar spine, had its onset during service and is related to his active duty. As a result, the claim for service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows continuous symptoms since service and a nexus between current disability and in-service injury or disease.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (Arthritis) of the Lumbar Spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 26, 2017
- Citation
- 1702086
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 1702086.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's current lumbar spine disability is not related to service, as there were no chronic symptoms of degenerative joint disease during or within one year after service. The Board finds that the Veteran did not experience continuous symptoms since service.
- Denied
The Veteran's back disability, including degenerative joint disease (arthritis), was not incurred in or aggravated by service. The Board found no evidence linking the current condition to his military service and concluded that any such connection would be speculative.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's low back disability and bilateral leg disability are not related to service, while his skin disability (claimed as cellulitis of the groin) is presumed due to herbicide exposure. The claim for PTSD was granted with an effective date of February 27, 2008.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at 40 percent prior to October 15, 2009. From that date onwards, the rating for radiculopathy of both lower extremities is 20 percent.
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