The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection of a low back disability and granted it, finding that new evidence supports a link between his current condition and military service.
The deciding factor: The May 2012 private medical opinion linking the Veteran's current low back disability to his military service is at least in equipoise with the December 2011 VA examination which did not find such a connection, warranting the grant of service connection based on the benefit-of-the-doubt principle.
- Claimed conditions
- Low Back Disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2017
- Citation
- 1703391
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 1703391.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his low back, left knee, and right knee disabilities due to inadequate VA examinations. The AOJ is instructed to obtain private treatment records from Mays & Schnapp Pain Management and schedule the Veteran for additional medical examinations.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's low back disability, including diagnosed degenerative arthritis with DDD other than intervertebral disc syndrome and spinal stenosis status post L3, L4, and L5 laminectomy. The decision is based on the Veteran's in-service injury and his ongoing symptoms since then.
- Granted
The Veteran's right shoulder disability, low back condition, bilateral knee disabilities, and left shoulder strain have been granted service connection. The Veteran's low back condition has been increased to a 40 percent evaluation, while the bilateral knee conditions remain at their current 10 percent evaluations.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for the claimed conditions as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses or in-service incurrence or aggravation.
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