The Board has granted the Veteran's application to reopen his previously denied claim of service connection for a low back disability. The evidence now shows that the Veteran's current low back disability is related to an in-service injury, and thus service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence shows that the Veteran had continuous low back complaints during service and reports having had low back pain since the 1990s, which supports a finding of service connection based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine (low back disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20066511
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 20066511.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial rating higher than 70 percent for PTSD and persistent mood disorder, granted a 40 percent initial rating for low back disability, and denied initial ratings higher than 10 percent for plantar fasciitis and radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities involving the sciatic nerve.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a low back disability, left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left knee arthritis. The issue of entitlement to service connection for left knee osteochondroma was remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for higher ratings for his low back disability and right knee disabilities are remanded due to further development being required.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and bilateral lumbar radiculopathy, finding that these conditions are related to service. Service connection was denied for a bilateral leg condition other than lumbar radiculopathy.
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