The Board has granted service connection for degenerative joint disease, L4-5 status post-laminectomy, finding that the Veteran's current disability is related to in-service back injuries and complaints of low back pain. The decision resolves reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was a causal relationship between the Veteran's current degenerative joint disease, L4-5 status post-laminectomy, and his in-service back injuries and complaints of back pain, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease, L4-5 status post-laminectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 11, 2021
- Citation
- 21007949
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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 21007949.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, degenerative joint disease, bilateral hearing loss, COPD, carpal tunnel syndromes, and kidney failure. The evidence submitted since the final decisions raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating these claims.
- Whole decision: 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.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected musculoligamentous strain, right knee, is currently rated at 10 percent and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
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