The Board denied service connection for a thoracic spine disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition is not related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s current thoracic spine disability is more likely due to post-service trauma after a motor vehicle accident in 1996, rather than being related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracic spine disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2020
- Citation
- 20002793
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, dismissed the claim for a thoracic spine disability, and granted service connection for right knee strain, left knee strain and meniscal tear, left hip strain as secondary to a service-connected thoracolumbar lumbar spine disorder, and a generalized anxiety disorder and other specified depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for lumbar and thoracic spine disabilities due to a lack of adequate medical evidence linking these conditions to service or a service-connected disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome and a thoracic spine disability, as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability. The claims for an initial compensable rating for allergic rhinitis and for service connection for sinusitis were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disability and a thoracic spine disability as the evidence did not support a finding that these disabilities were related to the Veteran's active military service.
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