The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a spine disorder, finding that there was no medical evidence establishing a link between her current spinal condition and an in-service injury or disease. The examiner could not provide a clear opinion without resorting to speculation.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner could not provide a clear opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's spinal condition due to insufficient medical evidence, including lack of a definitive diagnosis of arthritis for statutory presumptions purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- spine disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19125340
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disorders, including a left elbow disorder, spine disorder, left hip disorder, right hip disorder, left knee disorder, right knee disorder, and bilateral foot disorder, including pes planus, to schedule VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a spine disorder, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between the Veteran's current spine condition and his active service or any service-connected disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional examinations and opinions are needed to properly evaluate the Veteran's claims for service connection, as well as his increased evaluation claim for IBS-GERD. The issues include bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, bilateral lower extremity neuropathy, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, neck disorder, spine disorder, and diabetes mellitus.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development and consideration of the issues related to service connection, increased rating, and reopening a claim. The effective date for the grant of service connection for left knee arthritis remains April 8, 2009.
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