The Board has determined that the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine condition is at least as likely as not related to his military service, granting service connection for this condition.
The deciding factor: The evidence was in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran’s current thoracolumbar spine disability was related to his military service, and after resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board found that service connection is warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracolumbar spine condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20005347
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 20005347.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current thoracolumbar spine condition did not begin in service and is not otherwise related to his military service, thus denying his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for a thoracolumbar spine condition due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain an adequate medical opinion. The case is now pending with instructions to provide a new VA examination and opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for cervical spine, thoracolumbar spine, and left upper extremity neuropathy due to inadequate VA examination opinions regarding service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for a thoracolumbar spine condition and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to the need for additional development of evidence.
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