The Board has determined that the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disorder is not related to service or his service-connected left shoulder impairment, and thus denied the claim for secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s thoracolumbar spine disorder was less likely than not related to service or his service-connected left shoulder impairment due to lack of a co-existing chronic back condition during service and post-service occupations and motor vehicle accidents contributing to the development of the condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracolumbar spine disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179371
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disorder and a cervical spine disorder as there was no evidence of a nexus between the current conditions and the Veteran's active duty service.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded claims for service connection for cervical spine disorder, thoracolumbar spine disorder, right shoulder disorder, scars of the face, psychiatric disorder, and traumatic brain injury.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a thoracolumbar spine disorder due to a lack of evidence demonstrating current disabilities under 38 C.F.R. § 3.385, and no nexus between the claimed conditions and military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to duty-to-assist errors, including missing Reserve records and outstanding SSA records.
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