Citation Nr: 18127367
Decision Date: 08/17/18	Archive Date: 08/17/18

DOCKET NO. 14-17 504
DATE:	August 17, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for a low back disability is granted.
VETERAN’S CONTENTIONS
The Veteran asserts that his current low back pain and degenerative disc disease are the residuals of various injuries sustained during his active duty service, including a fall down stairs in April 1981 and a parachuting accident in 1982. 
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. In 1982, during his active duty service, the Veteran injured his back in a parachuting accident. See April 1982 Service Treatment Records.
2. The Veteran currently experiences low back pain which results in functional impairment. He experienced continuous low back pain from the time of his in-service parachuting accident to the present. See February 2018 VA examination; VA Treatment Records dated November 2014, December 2012.
3. The Veteran’s current low back disability is related to his in-service parachuting accident. See June 2018 VHA Expert Opinion.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for a low back disability have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1111, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from April 1981 to April 1984.
This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an February 2012 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
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). Pain that results in functional impairment constitutes a disability for VA purposes. Saunders v. Wilkie, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 8467, *18-28 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 3, 2018)
As noted in the above findings of fact, the Veteran currently experiences low back pain, which he has had continuously since his in-service parachuting injury in 1982. At a February 2018 VA examination, the Veteran reported that his back pain prevents him from standing or walking for long periods, and the examiner noted that his disability results in functional impairment. Therefore, the first and second elements of service connection are satisfied.
Regarding the third element, a nexus between the Veteran’s in-service injury and his current disability, VA examiners in September 2011 and February 2018 both opined that the Veteran’s current disability was not related to his active duty service. However, neither opinion adequately accounted for the Veteran’s statements that he had experienced back pain ever since his in-service parachuting accident. Therefore, these opinions are inadequate for VA rating purposes.
In May 2018, the Board requested a VHA expert medical opinion. In a June 2018 opinion, the VHA expert stated: “The patient’s ‘current spine disability’ appears to include low back pain. . . . While it is impossible to ascertain causality . . . I think it is reasonable to state that it is as likely as it is not that these parachuting accidents are contributing to the present chronic low back pain. . . .” The VHA expert reasoned that the Veteran’s record documented parachuting injuries evincing higher-than-usual stress on the spine, and that his pain had continued from the time of those injuries to the present.
The VHA expert’s opinion is competent, credible, and entitled to significant weight. Further, because the two VA examinations are inadequate for VA purposes, there is no probative evidence to the contrary. Therefore, the Board finds that the Veteran’s current low back pain is related to his in-service parachuting injury. Accordingly, service connection for a low back disability is warranted.
 
S. C. KREMBS
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	P. Timmerman, Associate Counsel