The Board denied service connection for anxiety disorder and somatic symptom disorder but granted service connection for a lower back disability with right lower extremity radiculopathy on a secondary basis, and denied an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss.

The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish a causal relationship between the claimed conditions and active service or any aggravation of pre-existing conditions. However, the lower back disability was related to an in-service injury, and right lower extremity radiculopathy was secondary to the back disability.

Claimed conditions

anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder, lower back disorder (chronic DJD of the lumbar spine with discopathy, post-surgical fusion), right lower extremity radiculopathy

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

10%

Decision date

December 8, 2025

Citation

A25105550

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine