The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the Veteran's current condition is due to natural degenerative changes and not related to his military service.,The Board also denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, concluding that there was no evidence of such a condition during or within one year after the Veteran's military service.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence showed that the Veteran’s low back disorder did not have its onset in service and was more likely due to natural degenerative changes over time.,For his psychiatric disorder, there was no evidence showing it had an onset during or within one year after service. The VA examiner found that the condition began years after service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder, Acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19196780
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 19196780.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a determination on whether injuries sustained in a November 2001 incident were in the line of duty. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is also remanded due to its interdependence with the line of duty issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error in failing to obtain private treatment records from the Veteran's treating clinician.
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