The Board has granted service connection for a low back disability, diagnosed as lumbosacral strain, lumbosacral sprain, and moderate degenerative changes of the L5-S1 disc and facet joints with radiculopathy. The Veteran's current low back disabilities are found to be due to his in-service injury.
The deciding factor: The Board affords significant probative weight to the October 2012 VA opinion which concluded that the Veteran’s current low back disabilities are related to his in-service low back injury, and thus are at least as likely as not proximately due to or the result of any incident of service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain, lumbosacral sprain, moderate degenerative changes of the L5-S1 disc and facet joints
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19138150
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 19138150.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their appeal for service connection of a lumbosacral strain, resulting in the dismissal of this issue.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, finding that it is related to his in-service injury. The claimant did not contest this decision.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, including degenerative arthritis and IVDS. The decision is based on the Veteran's in-service injury during active duty and his continuous symptoms since then.
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