The Board has determined that the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disability is not etiologically linked to his active duty service and therefore denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found it less likely than not that the Veteran's current osteoarthritis of the thoracolumbar spine was related to his active duty service because he had no significant back injuries or disabilities while on active duty.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine osteoarthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 13, 2018
- Citation
- 1815166
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 1815166.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including posttraumatic headaches, right shoulder bursitis, thoracolumbar spine osteoarthritis, left shoulder bursitis (prior to March 18, 2015), knee arthritis, hand degenerative joint disease, ankle strains, and cervical osteoarthritis, rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment prior to September 22, 2017. The Board granted the Veteran's TDIU claim based on this evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right elbow injury, gout of the left and right great toe metatarsal-phalangeal joints, migraine headaches, and thoracolumbar spine osteoarthritis as there was no evidence to support these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn his appeal on the issues of service connection for right rotator cuff tendinopathy, cervical spine osteoarthritis, thoracolumbar spine osteoarthritis, and left and right leg cramps.
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