The Board found that the Veteran's current low back disability, renal failure, and dialysis scars did not have their onset in service or are related to service. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions provided were against a direct link between the Veteran's current disabilities and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc and joint disease of the lumbar spine, End stage renal disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 16, 2017
- Citation
- 1708053
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 1708053.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that none of the listed causes were related to his military service and no service-connected disability contributed to his death.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's disability rating for his lumbar spine disability from 40% to 40%, effective August 31, 2020. The reduction was improper due to lack of actual improvement in the Veteran's condition.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected left leg amputation was a contributory cause of his death from renal conditions, and thus grants service connection for the cause of death.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his end stage renal disease was caused by the use of NSAIDs to treat his service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities.
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