The Board has found that the Veteran's current lumbar spine disability is not related to his service or a service-connected condition, and thus denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not support a finding of in-service incurrence or a nexus between the Veteran's current lumbar spine disability and either his military service or his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disc and joint disease, muscle strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2017
- Citation
- 1757430
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 1757430.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his lumbar spine degenerative disc and joint disease from July 23, 2009 was denied as the disability did not meet the criteria for a higher rating due to unfavorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance was denied because his service-connected disabilities alone do not render him unable to protect himself from daily living hazards.,The Veteran's claim for SMC based on housebound status was also denied as he does not meet the statutory or factual criteria for an award of SMC based on housebound status.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine degenerative disc and joint disease does not warrant a rating higher than 20 percent, as his forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine exceeds 30 degrees.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence of onset and etiology, requiring VA examinations. The PACT Act presumption applies to TERA exposure.
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