The Board denied service connection for residuals of a back injury, finding that the appellant's current back disorder is not related to his military service. The VA experts concluded that the appellant's back problems likely began after 2003 and were more likely due to aging-related degenerative changes rather than an August 2003 lifting incident during ACDUTRA.
The deciding factor: The Board found no evidence of a nexus between the appellant’s current back disorder and his military service, including the August 2003 injury.
- Claimed conditions
- back injury, arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 30, 2018
- Citation
- 18154571
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 18154571.
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 Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for service connection of various conditions as secondary to left ankle condition due to an improper concurrent election in a previous appeal.
- Dismissed
The appeal has been dismissed due to the death of the Appellant, and no decision can be made on the underlying claims.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, but the claims for back injury and radiculopathy of the right leg are remanded due to insufficient evidence.
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