The Board has granted the Veteran's application to reopen his claim of service connection for a low back disability, finding that new and material evidence supports a relationship between the Veteran's current condition and an injury during ACDUTRA service. Service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided since the final denial suggest that the Veteran’s low back disability may be due to an injury sustained during his active duty for training (ACDUTRA) service, specifically a parachute jump in January 1971 which caused trauma to the lumbar spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20065356
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,776 · Granted: 24% (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 20065356.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for his lumbar spine and right hip disabilities due to a duty to assist error. The effective date for DEA benefits is granted as May 1, 2014.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability and right leg radiculopathy are granted service connection, but left leg radiculopathy is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for TDIU, finding that his service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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