The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a low back disability, finding that there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease and no continuity of symptoms since separation. The Board also found that the arthritis did not have onset during active service or within the presumptive period following service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners' opinions were persuasive as they considered known medical principles, available medical literature, and applied it to the specific facts of this matter regarding the Veteran's in-service occupation requiring significant heavy lifting and lack of evidence of any back issues during active service or within one year of discharge.
- Claimed conditions
- low back arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20002054
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The veteran is granted an effective date of August 5, 2021 for a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) based on service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
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- Denied
The Board denied the claims for service connection as new and material evidence was not submitted, and there is no current diagnosis of a rash on the bilateral feet or low back arthritis.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected low back and cervical spine disabilities, finding that the evidence did not support a higher evaluation under the applicable rating criteria.
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