The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's herniated discs L4-L5 and L5-S1, but has remanded the issue of service connection for right inguinal and umbilical hernias.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's herniated discs were incurred during his active duty service due to a credible in-service injury reported by the Veteran and corroborated by fellow servicemembers' statements.
- Claimed conditions
- herniated disc L4-L5, herniated disc L5-S1, right inguinal hernia, umbilical hernia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19188018
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 19188018.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and initial disability ratings were denied. The Veteran was granted a rating of 40 percent, but no higher, for diabetic peripheral neuropathy affecting the right lower extremity and left lower extremity, and a rating of 20 percent, but no higher, for diabetic peripheral neuropathy affecting the left upper extremity (minor).
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied as there was no current evidence of the claimed conditions, or they did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of an umbilical hernia, finding that there was no evidence to support a relationship between his military service and the condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to address the Veteran's claims for service connection for gastrointestinal disability, right inguinal hernia, hiatal hernia, and bilateral hearing loss. The claims are being remanded for further development.
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