The Board has determined that the Veteran's lower back disability, claimed as a strain, was incurred in service and granted service connection for this condition.
The deciding factor: The evidence is in relative equipoise regarding whether the Veteran’s residuals of a lower back injury were incurred in service, with consideration given to her competent lay reports of functional impairment due to pain and contemporaneous treatment records showing continuity of complaints and diagnostic imaging documenting disability from after separation.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back strain, intervertebral disc displacement, lumbar region
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19189200
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 19189200.
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 Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service-connected.,The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is denied as not meeting VA criteria for a disability.,The Veteran's left ACL tear, right ankle sprain, lower back strain, and right shoulder strain are all denied as not meeting VA criteria for a disability.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for right hammer toe, left hammer toe, lower back strain, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (depression) as there is no persuasive evidence of current diagnoses of these conditions during the pendency of the claim or approximate to its initiation.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings for lower back strain, radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities, service connection for hearing loss in the left ear, and obstructive sleep apnea have been dismissed.,An increased rating of 40 percent, but not higher, has been granted for chronic urinary tract infection to include urge incontinence (previously claimed as frequent urination) from October 15, 2018.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection on all issues except left and right knee disabilities have been dismissed due to untimely filing. The Board has not considered the evidence regarding these claims as they are outside of their jurisdiction.
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