The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability, posttraumatic stress disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support that the Veteran's lumbar spine disability was incurred in or is otherwise related to his military service, nor did it establish a credible in-service stressor for his PTSD claim. The Board also remanded the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression, due to the need for a VA examination.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine disability (claimed as low back pain), Posttraumatic stress disorder, Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 1, 2025
- Citation
- A25056978
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 an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 9, 2022, for the grant of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder with generalized anxiety disorder, other specified depressive disorder, and alcohol use disorder.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 29, 2019 for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder but denied earlier effective dates and increased ratings for other conditions.
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