Citation Nr: A21020053 Decision Date: 12/15/21 Archive Date: 12/15/21 DOCKET NO. 201110-119963 DATE: December 15, 2021 ORDER Service connection for intervertebral disc degeneration, spondylosis, and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving all doubt in the Veteran's favor, his currently diagnosed intervertebral disc degeneration, spondylosis, and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is related to his military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for intervertebral disc degeneration, spondylosis, and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from February 1999 to February 2002. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2020 rating decision issued by Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office under the modernized appeals system known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). In November 2020, the Veteran filed a timely Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement) (VA Form 10182) and requested a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge, which was held before the undersigned in May 2021. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. Based on the Veteran's election, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the issuance of the decision on September 16, 2020, and any evidence submitted by the Veteran at the hearing or within 90 days thereafter, i.e., by August 2, 2021. 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(a). Entitlement to service connection for a back disorder, to include as secondary to cervical strain and/or bilateral pes planus with plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia. The Veteran contends he has a current back disorder as a result of his military service or, in the alternative, as secondary to his service-connected cervical strain and/or bilateral pes planus with plantar fasciitis and metatarsalgia. In this regard, as the Board herein awards service connection on a direct basis, the Veteran's alternative theory of entitlement need not be addressed. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Direct service connection may not be granted without evidence of a current disability; in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disease or injury. Id.; see also Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 506 (1995) aff'd, 78 F.3d 604 (Fed. Cir. 1996) [(table)]. In the September 2020 rating decision, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ), as relevant, favorably found that the Veteran has a current back disorder, diagnosed as intervertebral disc degeneration, spondylosis, and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine as shown in private treatment records and a September 2020 VA examination, and had a qualifying event, injury, or disease in service as his service treatment records (STRs) reflected a complaint of low back pain in August 2000. The Board is bound by such favorably findings. 38 C.F.R. § 3.104(c). Thus, the remaining question is whether the Veteran's current back disorder is related to his military service. In this regard, the Veteran's STRs reflect that, in August 2000, he was transported to the hospital via ambulance for complaints of neck and low back pain, which was assessed as musculoskeletal pain. In a September 2018 statement, the Veteran indicated that, during his training on the day in question, his back locked up and he experienced muscle spasms. At such time and at his May 2021 Board hearing, he further reported that he experienced back problems as a result of performing the physical duties associated with his military occupational specialty of track vehicle repairer, and his back pain has continued to the present time. However, in September 2020, a VA examiner opined that the Veteran's back disorder was less likely than not incurred in or caused by the claimed in-service injury, event, or illness. In support thereof, she noted that the Veteran complained of left trapezius pain, which is located in a triangular shaped area surrounding the muscles of the neck, shoulder, and upper back rather than the lower back area, in August 2000, and there was no documented lumbar pain at such time or any other traumat or complaints referable to the back. The examiner further stated that there was a lack of chronicity of care for back pain until 2017. Ultimately, she found that the Veteran's degenerative arthritis was likely due to other factors such as aging, genetics, or obesity, and his intervertebral disc syndrome was likely a result of degenerative disc disease. Conversely, in October 2020, Dr. J.C., the Veteran's private treating physician, noted the Veteran's reported in-service injuries to the back, which never completely resolved, and current diagnosis of osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, and opined that it would seem reasonable and medically likely that the injuries and sequelae from his military service started and/or hastened a variety of skeletal problems that were still present. Similarly, in January 2021, Dr. J.E., a private physician who reviewed the record, interviewed the Veteran, and conducted a physical examination for the purpose of offering an independent medical opinion, noted that the Veteran injured his back during physical training in 2000. In this regard, he indicated that the Veteran's back locked up and he was taken to the emergency room in a neck brace. Dr. J.E. further observed that, while the Veteran's low back pain started at such time, it worsened with daily physical training, lifting weights, bending over, and crawling under engines as a mechanic. He noted that the Veteran's back pain continued since his separation from service, and he had current diagnoses of multiple back disorders. Thus, Dr. J.E. opined that it is more likely than not that the Veteran's back disorder is service-connected because of the occurrence of injury and symptoms while on active duty. He explained that, at such time, the Veteran strained the muscles, tendons, and various structures of the vertebrae and sprained the ligaments that support the lumbar spine. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds that the evidence as to whether the Veteran's current back disorder is related to his military service to be in relative equipoise. In this regard, the September 2020 VA examiner, Dr. J.C., and Dr. J.E. are medical professionals, considered all relevant evidence, and offered a rationale for their opinions. Thus, such opinions are entitled to equal probative weight. Therefore, the Board resolves all doubt in favor of the Veteran and finds that his currently diagnosed intervertebral disc degeneration, spondylosis, and degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is related to his military service. Thus, service connection for such disorder is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). A. JAEGER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Spielmann, Jill F. The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.