The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a lower back disability, scars from an operation on the lower back as secondary to a lower back condition, and bilateral lower extremity neuropathy as secondary to a lower back disability due to lack of evidence supporting a link between these conditions and his military service.
The deciding factor: The Board found no in-service event, injury, or disease related to the claimed disabilities and that the current disabilities were not caused or aggravated by a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back disability, scars from an operation on the lower back, bilateral lower extremity neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 27, 2025
- Citation
- A25047092
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a lower back disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition had its onset during his service and has progressively worsened since separation.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and bilateral lower extremity neuropathy, finding that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between these conditions and the Veteran's active military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD, effective March 8, 2023, but no earlier. Other claims were denied or remanded.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for lower back disability, right shoulder disability, and traumatic brain injury (TBI) was denied due to the untimely filing of the Board Appeal request.
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