The Board has granted service connection for a thoracic, upper and lower back disability due to the Veteran's active duty service. The decision finds that her degenerative disc disease is etiologically linked to her time in service.
The deciding factor: The Board found continuity of symptoms since service and established a nexus between current DDD and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 26, 2020
- Citation
- A20016015
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.
- Granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates of April 20, 2019, for the awards of service connection for DDD of the spine and associated right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a separate 20 percent rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as an initial rating of 50 percent for bilateral pes planus. The claim for an increased rating for degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the spine was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for PTSD, degenerative disc disease of the spine, and degenerative joint disease of the spine as they were not shown to be related to the veteran's active or National Guard service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
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