The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability and denied service connection for an acquired mental health disorder (including depression and anxiety) and tinnitus. The lumbar spine disability is found to be aggravated by in-service injuries, while the other conditions are not related to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lumbar spine disability was found to have preexisted service but was aggravated during active duty for training periods in 1968. No evidence supports an in-service onset or continuity of symptoms for the acquired mental health disorder and tinnitus, with no credible noise exposure reported during service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability, acquired mental health disorder (including depression and anxiety), tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186462
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 880 · Granted: 26% (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 19186462.
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 claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service connected. The issues of foot disability and cardiovascular disorder are remanded for additional development.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran experienced tinnitus during his active duty service.
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