The Board has granted service connection for mechanical low back pain with degenerative changes of the lumbar spine, finding that the Veteran's current symptoms are related to his in-service injury and continuous post-service symptoms. The claim is based on direct service connection rather than a presumption or secondary theory.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran had continuous post-service symptoms consistent with his in-service injury, which supports a grant of service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d).
- Claimed conditions
- Mechanical low back pain, Degenerative changes of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19146482
Veterans Law Judge
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 19146482.
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 remanded the claim of service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, finding that the VA examination and opinion were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's complete medical history. The case is now to be reviewed with an addendum VA opinion.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because the Board Appeal request was not timely filed with respect to the June 14, 2023 rating decision that decreased the rating for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective September 1, 2023.
- Denied
The Board denied the appeal for service connection of mechanical low back pain, finding no current disability and concluding that the March 1999 rating decision was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability and an acquired psychiatric disability, but remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.
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