The Board denied service connection for a low back disorder, finding that the current diagnoses are not related to an in-service injury and exposure. The claim was based on direct service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no link between the in-service injury and the current low back disorders, and there is no evidence of chronicity or continuity of symptoms since service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the spine, Intervertebral disc syndrome, Spondylolisthesis, Spinal stenosis, Lumbar disc herniation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20004307
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 20004307.
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 service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine, right knee degenerative arthritis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right ankle degenerative arthritis, and left ankle degenerative arthritis.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 50 percent effective February 13, 2021. His left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy is rated at 80 percent from April 21, 2013 to February 12, 2021. The Veteran's TDIU claim has an earlier effective date of April 21, 2013.
- Granted
The Veteran's back condition is granted an increased disability rating of 40 percent, but no higher. The claims for service connection for LLE and RLE radiculopathies are remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date and higher initial rating for his back disability is denied. The effective date remains March 29, 2021, as the earliest date of claim. An initial rating in excess of 20 percent for the back disability from March 29, 2021, is also denied.
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