The Board of Veterans' Appeals granted service connection for back disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to his experiences during active service.
The deciding factor: The Board found the private medical opinion more credible than the VA opinions and concluded that the Veteran's back disability was directly related to his in-service activities.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and intervertebral disc syndrome, to include left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve (back disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- January 5, 2024
- Citation
- 24000929
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.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for entitlement to a rating more than 40 percent disabling for lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and intervertebral disc syndrome, and for a rating more than 20 percent disabling for right lower extremity radicopathy, sciatic.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 40 percent rating for his lumbosacral strain effective July 8, 2015, and the claim for an earlier effective date for total disability based on individual unemployability was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 40 percent prior to February 22, 2021, and in excess of 20 percent after February 22, 2021, for lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and intervertebral disc syndrome.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and intervertebral disc syndrome, radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities, and tension headaches (including migraine headaches).
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