Citation Nr: 18157459 Decision Date: 12/13/18 Archive Date: 12/12/18 DOCKET NO. 06-23 500 DATE: December 13, 2018 ORDER Service connection is granted for lumbar strain. FINDING OF FACT Medical evidence reflects that the Veteran has been diagnosed with lumbar strain; it is at least as likely as not that the condition can be attributed to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the criteria for an award of service connection for lumbar strain have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from January 1987 to August 1992. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in San Juan, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This matter was previously before the Board in September 2008, August 2010, and September 2011, wherein a previously denied claim was reopened and remanded for additional development. A September 2012 Board decision denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability on the merits. Subsequently, the Veteran appealed the decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In an August 2013 Order, pursuant to a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) filed by the parties, the Court vacated and remanded the September 2012 decision back to the Board. The matter was thereafter remanded by the Board in December 2013 and in April 2017. Service Connection The Veteran maintains that he has a current disability of the lumbar spine that is the result of an in-service injury his sustained when he fell from a pole and hurt his back. In an October 2018 submission, his representative identified the specific disability for which service connection is being sought as lumbar strain/sprain. Service connection is warranted where the evidence of record establishes that a particular injury or disease resulting in disability was incurred in the line of duty in the active military service or, if pre-existing such service, was aggravated thereby. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Generally, in order to prove service connection, there must be competent, credible evidence of (1) a current disability, (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and (3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. See, e.g., Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Pond v. West, 12 Vet. App. 341 (1999). The requirement of a current disability is satisfied when the claimant is shown to have the disability either at the time he files his claim for service connection, or during the pendency of that claim, even if the disability resolves prior to final adjudication. McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007). 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; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. See also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). In the present case, there is no dispute that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of lumbar strain/sprain. The evidence includes a medical report reflecting a diagnosis of back strain (among other low back disabilities) in August 2007, during the pendency of the Veteran’s claim. See McClain, supra. Nor is there any dispute that the Veteran had problems with his low back in service. His service treatment records reflect that he was assessed with chronic low back pain in May 1987; was placed on a limited profile in April and May 1987 due to such pain; and reported ongoing low back pain in August 1987, since falling from a pole two months earlier. He also reported pain in the sacroiliac area in April 1989. As to the nexus, or link, between the diagnosis of low back strain and service, a private physician opined in a September 2018 report that the Veteran’s issues with lumbar strain/sprain were related to service. The physician reviewed the record, discussed the medical evidence, and provided reasons for the conclusions reached. As such, the opinion is entitled to significant probative weight. See, e.g., Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 302-04 (2008). To the extent there are other opinions of record that can be read to conflict with the September 2018 opinion as it pertains to lumbar strain/sprain, the Board finds those opinions no more probative on the matter. On balance, and taking into account the totality of the evidence, the Board is persuaded that the criteria for an award of service connection for lumbar strain have been met. The evidence, at a minimum, gives rise to a reasonable doubt on the matter. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. The benefit sought is granted. DAVID A. BRENNINGMEYER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD T. Davis, Associate Counsel