Citation Nr: 21027060
Decision Date: 05/04/21	Archive Date: 05/04/21

DOCKET NO. 19-25 923
DATE: May 4, 2021

ORDER

Service connection for disc herniation and stenosis of L5-S1 is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran's diagnosed disc herniation and stenosis of L5-S1 is etiologically related to a service connected disability. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for disc herniation and stenosis of L5-S1 have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1111, 1153; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304, 3.310. 

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1981 to June 2001.  

This matter initially came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2018 rating decision of the Agency of Original Jurisdiction.  In January 2020, the Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability.  In October 2020, pursuant to a Joint Motion for Partial Remand, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims vacated the Board's January 2020 decision.

Service connection may be granted on a secondary basis for a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service connected disease or injury.  38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a).  To establish service connection on a secondary basis, there must be evidence of a current disability, a service connected disability, and medical evidence of a nexus between the service connected disability and the current disability.  Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509 (1998).

The Veteran claims that he has a back disability that relates to his service connected right ankle disability.  He has a current back disability, with an October 2018 examiner noting the Veteran's complaints of back pain, and a January 2021 private clinician noting lumbar disc herniation and stenosis.  The October 2018 examiner opined that the back disability was not related to his service connected right ankle disability.  In January 2021, a private clinician opined that the back disability related to his service connected right ankle disability.  

The probative value of the January 2021 opinion is at least equal to that of the October 2018 opinion. Both opinions included a thorough review of the record, consideration of the lay evidence, and detailed rationale. The weight of the evidence at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's back disability is related to his service connected right ankle disability. Accordingly, service connection for disc herniation and stenosis of L5-S1 secondary to the Veteran's service connected right ankle disability is warranted. 

 

MICHAEL A. HERMAN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J.A. Flynn, 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.