The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for his back disability, finding that there is no evidence showing a chronic condition during or within one year after service. The Board also found that any current back disability is less likely than not caused by military service.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided were against a direct and secondary service connection claim, with the primary reasoning being lack of continuity of symptomatology post-service and conflicting evidence regarding an antalgic gait due to right ankle disability.
- Claimed conditions
- back disability, lumbago/mild compression of T-11 vertebra, back pain, degenerative disc disease, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071775
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back pain, knee and wrist joint pains, neck pain, anxiety, depression, as further development is needed to properly adjudicate these claims.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right ankle, left ankle, back disability, and other conditions as there is no evidence of a current disability related to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Veteran was awarded service connection for allergic rhinitis based on the PACT Act, but an earlier effective date prior to August 10, 2022, is not warranted.
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