Citation Nr: 21006365 Decision Date: 02/03/21 Archive Date: 02/03/21 DOCKET NO. 17-62 601 DATE: February 3, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran has experienced low back pain related to degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine since the applicable presumptive period. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 2008 to August 2012 and January 2014 to December 2014. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a May 2017 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This claim was previously remanded by the Board in November 2018 for further development, to include providing an addendum VA opinion. The Board finds substantial compliance with the remand directives and therefore another remand is not necessary. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Although the Board has an obligation to provide adequate reasons and bases supporting this decision, there is no requirement that the evidence submitted by the appellant or obtained on his behalf be discussed in detail. Rather, the Board’s analysis below will focus specifically on what evidence is needed to substantiate the claim and what the evidence in the file shows, or fails to show, with respect to the claim. See Gonzales v. West, 218 F.3d 1378, 1380-81 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Timberlake v. Gober, 14 Vet. App. 122, 128-30 (2000). Where there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall resolve reasonable doubt in favor of the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). To deny a claim on its merits, the evidence must preponderate against the claim. Alemany v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 518 (1996). Entitlement to service connection for a low back disability The Veteran contends he has had intermittent but chronic low back pain since service due to lifting and carrying heavy objects in service. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for direct service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166 -67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Certain chronic diseases will be presumed related to service if they were shown as chronic in service; or, if they manifested to a compensable degree within a presumptive period following separation from service; or, if they were noted in service, with continuity of symptomatology since service that is attributable to the chronic disease. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2013). After a review of the evidence, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board grants service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine based on continuity of symptomatology of a chronic disability. The Veteran has a current disability of degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, as shown by the December 2016 VA examination. The Veteran is also diagnosed with lumbar degenerative disc disease with bulging disc formation. See December 2016 VA examination; April 2017 VA treatment records. Arthritis is a condition covered under 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a); Walker, 708 F.3d 1331. Though the Veteran was not diagnosed with degenerative arthritis of the spine until almost two years after discharge, the evidence indicates there was a degenerative process ongoing as early as June 2015, less than one year after discharge from service. Within six months of separation from service, a June 2015 chest x-ray showed degenerative changes of the spine at an unspecified level. At that time the Veteran reported that he believed his back pain was from carrying and lifting heavy equipment in service. Physical examinations within the year of his separation from service reflect intermittent back pain since service. The Veteran continues to complain of chronic low back pain, which has since been attributed to lumbar spine arthritis. While the Veteran was not formally diagnosed with lumbar spine arthritis until after the applicable presumptive period, the Board finds that the Veteran continued to experience symptoms of low back pain since his separation from service. The Veteran is competent to report that he experienced those symptoms since service. His statements are credible and entitled to probative weight, as they are internally consistent and consistent with other evidence of record which shows that these symptoms were attributable to his lumbar spine arthritis. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 307-08 (2007); Washington v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 362, 368 (2005); Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994). Thus, resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that continuity of symptomatology has been established by the evidence of record. Service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is granted. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b) and 3.309(a). Nathaniel J. Doan Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K.L. Blevins, Associate Counsel 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.