Back / lumbar spine — all decisions

The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for a bilateral knee disability, bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, and chronic pain syndrome due to untimely notices of disagreement.

The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.

The Board granted service connection for a cervical spine disability and a thoracolumbar spine disability, finding that the Veteran's current disabilities are causally or etiologically due to his time in service.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral knee and lumbar spine conditions due to inadequate VA opinions.

The Board denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and remanded the claims for a right knee condition, left knee condition, and low back condition.

The Board denied service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including right shoulder arthritis, left shoulder arthritis, right hip condition, left hip condition, low back disability, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, as there was no evidence of in-service injury or illness related to these conditions.

The Board denied an effective date prior to December 4, 2024, for the grant of service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine and denied initial compensable ratings for bilateral hearing loss and a lumbar spine disability. However, it granted a 20 percent rating for right lower extremity radiculopathy associated with the service-connected lumbar spine disability.

The appeal was withdrawn by the Veteran before the Board promulgated a decision.

The Board granted initial ratings of 40 percent for lumbar spine disorder, 70 percent for major depressive disorder, and 40 percent for left lower extremity radiculopathy. TDIU and SMC based on housebound status were also granted.

The Board granted service connection for multiple disabilities, including cervical spine and thoracolumbar spine disabilities, radiculopathies, a bladder disability, headaches, a left knee disability, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and bilateral conjunctivitis. The Board also granted entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability.

The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death while it was pending.

The Board dismissed the claim for compensation for right Achilles tendon rupture, also claimed as problems to the right leg, hip and lumbar spine, due to a prohibited concurrent election of review.

The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, and shortness of breath as untimely. The claim for a back disability was remanded for further development.

The Veteran is granted a TDIU for the period from May 25, 2016 to January 18, 2017 due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.

The Board denied an initial increased rating for diabetes mellitus type II and remanded the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, right shoulder strain with acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis and tendinitis, cervical spine spondylosis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right knee degenerative arthritis, and thoracolumbar scoliosis and lumbar spine degenerative changes.

The Board granted an initial rating of 70 percent for the Veteran's service-connected depressive disorder due to another medical condition with depressive features and generalized anxiety disorder, denied a higher rating for his migraine including migraine variants, and denied ratings for other conditions.

The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including diabetes mellitus, type II, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, hypertension, asthma/lung disease, vision disability, bilateral plantar fasciitis, leukocytosis, kidney disease/kidney stones, enlarged prostate, sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar spine disability, right ankle disability, and left ankle disability.

The Board grants service connection for right knee and lumbar spine ankylosing spondylitis, as these conditions are caused by the Veteran's already service-connected seronegative spondyloarthropathy.

The Board granted a 40 percent disability rating for right and left lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as separate ratings of 10 to 20 percent for various nerve conditions. The back disability was denied a higher rating.