Service connection is granted for lumbar stenosis and lumbar spondylolisthesis with instability. The claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD, unspecified depressive disorder, anxiety disorder) is remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's back disability is related to his experience as a naval aviator in high-performance aircraft, causing spinal compression and stenosis.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar stenosis, lumbar spondylolisthesis with instability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19188525
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,429 · Granted: 29% (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 19188525.
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 Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar spondylosis and stenosis, finding that there is at least a 50/50 balance of evidence to support his claim due to continuity of symptoms since service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for a rating in excess of 20 percent for service-connected lumbar stenosis and DDD status post-laminectomy with cervical scars, and for a compensable disability rating for scars status-post laminectomy are denied.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for high blood pressure is remanded as there was insufficient evidence to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed disability.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for a cervical spine or neck disability, and for a prostate disability are denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right knee patella femoral pain syndrome, left knee patella femoral pain syndrome, and lumbar stenosis as new and relevant evidence had not been received to readjudicate these claims.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability rating for multilevel degenerative disease and lumbar stenosis has been restored to 40 percent effective March 1, 2025.
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