The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar spine disability, including arthritis (spinal stenosis), finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disability during service or within one year post-service. The Board also found no link between current back issues and in-service activities.
The deciding factor: The separation examination was normal, and the first documented findings for abnormal pathology were decades after service discharge.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability (including arthritis/spinal stenosis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19113161
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 19113161.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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