The Veteran's claim for service connection for low back pain, diagnosed as lumbar degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis, was granted. The disability is considered to be a direct result of the Veteran's military service without any presumption or secondary relationship.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found it less likely than not that the Veteran’s lumbar disability was related to his service due to lack of evidence of continuity of symptomatology and negative medical records regarding the etiology of the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- low back pain, lumbar degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- August 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19159784
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,812 · Granted: 30% (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 19159784.
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 claim for service connection of a low back disability was reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The claim is denied as there is no evidence that the current condition is related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure and follow substantially gainful employment prior to August 14, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for heart disease, hypertension, kidney disease, and low back pain due to potential errors in duty to assist. The AOJ is required to verify the Veteran's alleged exposure to herbicide agents and obtain private treatment records.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for degenerative disc disease, intervertebral disc syndrome, spinal stenosis, and bilateral lower extremity sciatica have been granted as they are related to his active duty service.
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