The Board has granted service connection for cervical and lumbar conditions, effective April 28, 2015. The Veteran's original claim was denied in September 2008 due to lack of evidence of a back disability. Service connection was reopened in September 2012 but denied again in October 2013. The Veteran filed a new application for service connection on April 28, 2015, and the Board granted it.
The deciding factor: The effective date is set to the date of claim as the earliest possible date due to the rules governing the application of effective dates.
- Claimed conditions
- back injury, neck injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19130831
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,092 · Granted: 42% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19130831.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The appeal has been dismissed due to the death of the Appellant, and no decision can be made on the underlying claims.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's request to recognize his December 17, 2008 correspondence as a timely and valid Notice of Disagreement (NOD) with the November 2008 rating decision. The underlying compensation claims will be addressed in a separate Board decision under the Legacy appeal system.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.