Citation Nr: 21024356 Decision Date: 04/22/21 Archive Date: 04/22/21 DOCKET NO. 18-37 132 DATE: April 22, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, claimed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran has a current low back disability, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, which is due to an in-service motor vehicle accident. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, claimed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from January 1984 to April 1987. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2016 rating decision of a Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in February 2021. A transcript of this hearing has been added to the claims file. Entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disability, claimed as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine The Veteran seeks service connection for a disability of the lumbosacral spine, claimed as due to a motor vehicle accident in service. Because this injury was incurred in service and results in a current disability, the Veteran asserts service connection is warranted. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military, naval, or air service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). As a general matter, service connection for a disability requires evidence of: (1) the existence of a current disability; (2) the existence of the disease or injury in service, and; (3) a relationship or nexus between the current disability and any injury or disease during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Where the evidence shows a “chronic disease” in service or “continuity of symptoms” after service, the disease shall be presumed to have been incurred in service. For the showing of “chronic” disease in service, there is required a combination of manifestations sufficient to identify the disease entity, and sufficient observation to establish chronicity at the time. With chronic disease as such in service, subsequent manifestations of the same chronic disease at any later date, however remote, are service-connected, unless clearly attributable to intercurrent causes. If a condition noted during service is not shown to be chronic, then generally, a showing of “continuity of symptoms” after service is required for service connection. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b); Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Additionally, where a veteran served ninety days or more of active service, and certain chronic diseases become manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year after the date of separation from such service, such disease shall be presumed to have been incurred in service, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(a). While the disease need not be diagnosed within the presumption period, it must be shown, by acceptable lay or medical evidence, that there were characteristic manifestations of the disease to the required degree during that time. Id. Considering first the service treatment records, these indicate that in May 1985, the Veteran was involved in a motor vehicle accident, following which he sought treatment for low back pain. He continued to report low back pain in August 1986 and February and March 1987, also during active duty service. The Veteran has testified that subsequent to service, he continued to experience chronic low back pain. In support of his contentions, he has submitted statements from friends, family, and employers, confirming his account of chronic back pain following service. Recent VA and private treatment records confirm current diagnoses of degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis, and spinal stenosis of the lumbosacral spine. Additionally, according to a November 2015 statement from K.P., M.D., the Veteran’s current low back pain and advanced osteoarthritis are related to his in-service motor vehicle accident. Review of the record indicates that additional medical evidence, such as an April 2015 VA medical examination and opinion, suggests the Veteran’s current degenerative arthritis of the spine is unrelated to his low back injury sustained following a motor vehicle accident during service. Upon review, this report did not consider the statements of ongoing symptoms provided by the Veteran. And, after reviewing the totality of the record, the Board concludes that the evidence is in relative equipoise. As with any claim, when there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any matter material to the claim, the claimant shall be given the benefit of the doubt. 38 U.S.C. § 5107. As such, the Board concludes, based on the entirety of the record and affording the Veteran the full benefit of the doubt, that service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine is warranted. Therefore, the appeal is granted. M. Donohue Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Thomas D. Jones, 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.