Citation Nr: 18150050 Decision Date: 11/15/18 Archive Date: 11/14/18 DOCKET NO. 15-01 600 DATE: November 15, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disorder is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s lumbar degenerative disc disease is related to his military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disorder are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 1154, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION 1. Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disorder. Service connection will be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Establishing service connection generally requires evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (2012); see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). The Veteran’s September 2012 VA back examination documents that he has a current diagnosis of degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine. The Veteran has stated that his current spine disorder is related to his military service; in his July 2018 Board hearing, the Veteran stated that he injured his back twice while in service during parachute jumps during training. The Veteran’s service treatment records document complaints of back pain in service, including complaints of lower back pain in November 1975 and December 1975. The Veteran’s service personnel records document that in December 1975, the Veteran requested termination of his airborne status as he expressed a fear of jumping and was injured twice in a total of 10 jumps. Additionally, the Veteran’s DD Form 214 indicates that he was decorated with a Parachute Badge. In light of the above evidence and the Veteran’s credible and consistent lay statements, the Board concedes the Veteran’s in-service parachuting injuries. The remaining question is whether the Veteran’s current spine disorder is related to his active service. As noted above, the Veteran underwent a September 2012 VA back examination, in which the VA examiner opined that it was less likely than not that the Veteran’s current lumbar spine disorder was caused by or a result of his lumbar back condition in service, attributing the Veteran’s lumbar spine disorder to the normal aging process. In support of that opinion, the September 2012 VA examiner noted that the Veteran’s in-service back diagnoses were for muscle spasms and back strains, which generally resolve without long term sequelae, and that there is no objective evidence to indicate otherwise in this case, noting that the Veteran did not report back symptoms at separation and that his separation examination noted a normal spine exam. The Board has concluded that the September 2012 etiology opinion is inadequate, as the examiner failed to adequately address the Veteran’s lay statements regarding continuity of symptomatology. In the September 2012 VA examination report, the examiner noted the Veteran’s claims that he has had pain in his low back since his injury in service during airborne training, but the examiner appears to dismiss those assertions solely based on the lack of contemporaneous treatment records in the claims file. Additionally, in his subsequent July 2018 Board hearing, the Veteran clarified that the reason he did not report back symptoms during his separation examination was that he did not understand English very well at that time, and the form was not explained to him adequately as he was filling it out. Thus, for the foregoing reasons, the September 2012 etiology opinion will be afforded little to no probative weight. In July 2018, the Veteran submitted a July 2018 etiology opinion from the VA physician who had been treating him for 10 years. The VA physician opined that the Veteran’s degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is more likely than not related to the trauma he experienced in service, noting that the lower back pain noted in the Veteran’s service treatment records is in the same location as his present condition. The VA physician further noted that in addition to having treated the Veteran for 10 years, she reviewed his service treatment records and his post-service medical records. Taking into account all of the above information, the Board resolves all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor and concludes that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s current lumbar spine disorder is related to his military service. It follows that service connection for a lumbar spine disorder is warranted. JAMES L. MARCH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD B. Reed, Associate Counsel