Citation Nr: 21007146 Decision Date: 02/08/21 Archive Date: 02/08/21 DOCKET NO. 17-40 975 DATE: February 8, 2021 ORDER Service connection for a back disability is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s back disability is etiologically related to his service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a back disability have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from September 1967 to August 1971, including service in Vietnam from September 1969 to September 1970. His military specialty was radar intercept officer. He also served as a fiscal officer in the accounting branch at the Marine Corps headquarter in Virginia from October 1970 to August 1971. Service Connection Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C.§ 1110; 38 C.F.R.§ 3.303. Service connection requires competent evidence showing: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service (nexus). Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The Veteran is seeking service connection for a back disability, which he believes, resulted from back injuries that occurred during service, to include injuries due to falls and twisting position during his flying missions. In a statement dated May 2015, he also stated that he developed symptoms of left leg pain and numbness during his service in Vietnam and was admitted to the 91st Evac Hospital in Vietnam. He reported that after his Vietnam tour, he stopped flying and was transferred to the Marine Corps Headquarters in Arlington Virginia doing administrative/financing work due to his back problems. Service treatment records (STRs) show that the Veteran reported recurrent back pain in the report of medical history dated September 1967. Lumber spine x-rays dated January 1968 showed normal results. A physical examination in September 1970 showed that he was qualified for naval flight officer. Treatment records in November 1970 showed that he was treated for muscle spasm in the lower back due to being in an awkward position, a history of bad back was also documented. Records from the 91st Evac Hospital showed that the Veteran was admitted and treated for left leg pain and was diagnosed with phlebitis (left leg). VA treatment records show that a MRI in January 2004 revealed severe degrative arthritis in the back with significant stenosis. A VA examiner reviewed the claims file and provided a medical opinion in March 2015 that the Veteran’s back condition was less likely than not (less than 50 percent probability) caused by or as a result of his back pain during service. The examiner offer the following rationale: (1) although the STRs showed report of back pain and treatment for muscle spasm of the lower back, the records did not show the back condition was chronic in nature as the physical examinations in January 1968, September 1970 and May 1971 showed no back abnormalities. As such, the Veteran’s in-service back injuries were minor and resolved and there was no evidence confirming that he developed lingering or persistent back problems. (2) There was no record showing that the Veteran had back problems shortly after he separated from service. The first objective evidence documenting the back condition arose from the MRI of the lumbar spine dated January 2004, which was approximately 31 years after separation from service. (3) Medical literal did not support a relationship between the degenerative arthritis in the back with minor injury such as back spasm. (4) The Veteran’s arthritis in his back was more likely due to cumulative effect of the wear and tear process over the years as research showed that 40 percent of adults over age 35 and almost all individuals over age 50 developed arthritic changes in the back. A private opinion dated March 2019 offered a different view after the private physician reviewed the relevant medical records and examined the Veteran in person. The physician noted that the Veteran had experienced multiple injuries to his low back during service, including falling form a cockpit onto the tarmac, falling approximately 20 feet from a rope ladder in a training drill, and violent twisting required in the cockpit as a radio intercept officer during high gravity maneuvers. The physician indicated these injuries were minimized according to the Marine code, and it was a known medical fact that such injuries lead to progressive degenerative spinal disease. The physician also pointed out that after a fall incident causing the Veteran land on his back and buttocks, he developed left leg pain and was admitted to the 91st evacuation hospital, where he was diagnosed with phlebitis, which should be sciatica from the back injury. Here, the Board is presented with two conflicting medical opinions which were each provided by medical professionals who are presumed to be competent to provide the opinions. The opinions were each supported by rationales. In this case, the Board finds that the evidence of record is in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s back disability was caused by his documented injuries during his active service. Accordingly, service connection for a back disability is granted. MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Q. Wang, 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.