The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back condition and an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD with depressive disorder not otherwise specified. The appeal was remanded for further action on other issues, but these were no longer before the Board due to a grant of service connection for bilateral knee conditions and left ear hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's low back condition clearly preexisted service and was not aggravated by service, while his PTSD with depressive disorder did not meet the criteria for an initial rating in excess of 50 percent.
- Claimed conditions
- low back condition, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with depressive disorder not otherwise specified
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20003420
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 20003420.
What this means for you
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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 of his low back condition, finding that it is related to his military service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a neck condition and a low back condition, finding that the Veteran's current diagnoses are related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate development of evidence, specifically failing to provide a VA examination or medical opinion regarding his claimed bilateral ankle, knee, low back, and left shoulder conditions. The claims are being returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Denied
The Board has determined that there is no evidence of a current disability for any of the claimed conditions, and thus service connection cannot be granted.
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