The Board denied service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability and a left shoulder disability as the evidence did not support that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during active duty, ACDUTRA, or INACDUTRA.
The deciding factor: The weight of the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran's thoracolumbar spine condition or left shoulder condition began during service or was aggravated by service. The Veteran reported pain in his back and shoulders during active duty but denied recurrent back pain at separation, and there is no evidence to suggest an injury or disease occurred during ACDUTRA or INACDUTRA.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine disability, left shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 29, 2025
- Citation
- 25015261
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (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 25015261.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that remand is needed for the Veteran's claims due to duty to assist errors, including clarification of periods of service and obtaining relevant records. The Veteran will be afforded new medical examinations for each claimed disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the claims for service connection for cervical and thoracolumbar spine disabilities due to a predecisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's past medical history needs to be considered in the new examination.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to a procedural defect in filing the claims on the correct form.
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