The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for his lumbar degenerative disc disease, finding that it is not related to his military service and is more likely age-related.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations found no evidence of a nexus between the Veteran's back disability and his military service, including his right ankle disability.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar degenerative disc disease (back disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 21, 2023
- Citation
- 23046298
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 23046298.
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 has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his lumbar degenerative disc disease and left knee patellar chondromalacia with enthesophyte formation at the quadratus femoris tendon due to inadequate VA examination reports. The Veteran will be scheduled for further examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the case to obtain medical records related to physical therapy for the Veteran's lumbar degenerative disc disease and left lower extremity radiculopathy, as these records were not previously associated with the Veteran's VA electronic file.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found the evidence inadequate to determine if the Veteran's back and left shoulder disabilities are related to his active-duty service, requiring further examination and consideration of additional medical records.
- Granted
An initial disability rating of 40 percent for the service-connected lumbar degenerative disc disease (back disability) from March 5, 2008 to July 28, 2021 is granted.
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