The Board granted service connection for a lumbar strain with chronic spine pain and chronic mid lower back pain, as well as readjudicated the claim of entitlement to service connection for thoracolumbar pain based on new evidence.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lay reports were consistent with the circumstances, conditions, and hardships of his combat service in Iraq, and Dr. B.T.'s opinion supported a nexus between the claimed back condition and service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar strain with chronic spine pain and chronic mid lower back pain, thoracolumbar condition
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- April 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25035253
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 833 · Granted: 33% (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 A25035253.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for cervical, thoracolumbar, and bilateral knee conditions due to insufficient evidence regarding his service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's dizziness and acquired psychiatric condition are granted service connection, but her cervical spine, thoracolumbar spine, left knee, right knee, and dyspareunia conditions remain unresolved due to insufficient evidence.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a thoracolumbar condition as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected right knee disability. Service connection for tinnitus was denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted the claim of service connection for a thoracolumbar condition, finding that there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence in favor of a causal relationship between the Veteran's current thoracolumbar disability and his military service.
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