The Board denied service connection for a chronic lumbar spine disorder, finding that the evidence does not show a diagnosis in service or within one year of discharge and the weight of the evidence is against a finding that a lumbar spine disorder has existed continuously since service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion found it less likely than not that the Veteran’s lumbar spine disorder began during or was otherwise caused by his active service, and there was no objective medical evidence of a chronic lumbar spine disorder until two decades after separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic lumbar spine disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19103866
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19103866.
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 Board denied service connection for a chronic lumbar spine disorder as there was no evidence of a causal relationship between the current disability and an in-service injury, and no continuity of symptomatology since service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various musculoskeletal disorders and granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence and need for further medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for chronic lumbar spine disorder and obstructive sleep apnea due to inadequate consideration of the obesity-intermediate step theory.
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