The Veteran's low back disability, which includes degenerative disc disease with arthritis, is considered to have started during service and thus service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: Service treatment records show the Veteran experienced recurrent back pain since service, including after carrying heavy items in 1985. The Veteran reported consistent symptoms since his retirement from service until 2010 when they worsened significantly.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease with arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2020
- Citation
- 20064592
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 20064592.
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.
- Dismissed
The appeals for increased ratings for PTSD and degenerative disc disease with arthritis have been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's degenerative disc disease with arthritis did not manifest during service or within one year of separation, and continuity of symptomatology is not established. Therefore, service connection for this condition is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected degenerative disc disease with arthritis of the lumbar spine and cervical spine was granted initial ratings of 20 percent for each, effective December 17, 2009. The current evaluations meet the criteria for these increased disability ratings.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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