The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, including degenerative joint and disc disease of the lumbar spine and scoliosis. The Veteran's current conditions are found to be related to his in-service injury.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lay statements regarding continuity of symptomatology were supported by evidence showing chronic back pain since service, which was corroborated by testimony from his stepdaughter. Additionally, VA examiners' opinions supporting the link between the current condition and service were deemed inadequate due to their failure to consider the extent of disc disease present on contemporaneous X-rays.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint and disc disease of the lumbar spine, Scoliosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19112125
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,772 · Granted: 37% (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 19112125.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection for neck and back disabilities should be remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding the etiology of his conditions.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings due to his valid opt-in of specific issues into the modernized review system.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no current diagnosis of PTSD.,Service connection was granted for scoliosis, with the condition aggravated during service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a higher initial rating of 40 percent for degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease, lumbosacral strain, and scoliosis, but remanded the other issues.
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