On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in Baltimore, Maryland
THE ISSUE
Entitlement to service connection for a low back disorder.
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc.
WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL
The veteran
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Julie L. Salas, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
The veteran served on active duty from December 1979 to July
1985.
This matter initially came to the Board of Veteran's Appeals
(Board) on appeal of an April 1995 rating decision of the RO.
In May 1997, the Board remanded this case for additional
development of the record.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. All relevant evidence necessary for an equitable
disposition of the veteran's appeal has been obtained.
2. The veteran is shown to have sustained an injury to his
back in connection with a parachute jump during service.
3. The veteran's currently demonstrated low back disability
manifested by lumbosacral strain, lumbar disc disease and
arthritis of the lumbar spine is the likely result of
injuries suffered in service.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The veteran's low back disability manifested by lumbosacral
strain, lumbar disc disease and arthritis of the lumbar spine
is due to injuries which were incurred in service.
38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1131, 5107, 7104 (West 1991 & Supp. 1998);
38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (1998).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
As a preliminary matter, the Board finds that the veteran's
claim is plausible and capable of substantiation, and thus
well grounded within the meaning of 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a).
When a veteran submits a well-grounded claim, VA must assist
him in developing facts pertinent to the claim. 38 U.S.C.A.
§ 5107(a). The Board is satisfied that all available
relevant evidence has been obtained regarding the claim, and
that no further assistance to the appellant is required to
comply with 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a).
Service connection may be established for disability
resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted
in line of duty, or for aggravation of a pre-existing injury
suffered or disease contracted in line of duty. 38 U.S.C.A.
§ 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The regulations also provide that
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). If the disorder
is a chronic disease, service connection may be granted if
manifest to a degree of 10 percent within the presumptive
period; the presumptive period for arthritis is one year.
38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137 (West 1991 & Supp.
1998); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309 (1998).
In determining whether service connection is warranted for a
disability, VA is responsible for determining whether the
evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with
the appellant prevailing in either event, or whether a
preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which
case the claim is denied. Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App.
49 (1990).
The veteran contends that he has a low back disorder as a
result of an injury which was incurred in service. He
testified at a hearing in May 1997, that he hit the ground
hard during a parachute jump landing and experienced shooting
pains in his back and down his left leg during service in
1984. He stated that, although he continued to experience
some residual back pain throughout his service, primarily
when he would turn or lift an object, he did not seek further
treatment.
The veteran further testified that following his discharge
from service, he had continued to experience sharp pains in
his lower back and a loss of feeling in his left leg brought
on by long periods of standing, turning and lifting. He
stated that he ultimately sought treatment from a private
physician, Dr. Ludwig Eglseder, in 1992 because he could not
walk and was doubled over from the pain in his back.
According to the veteran, his symptomatology had increased in
severity to the extent that his left leg would occasionally
give out on him. He noted that he had been prescribed pain
medications, muscle relaxants, ibuprofen and a corset in an
attempt to alleviate his condition.
A careful review of the veteran's service medical records
shows that, in March 1984, he was treated for a lower back
contusion/strain following a parachute jump the previous
evening.
In support of his claim, the veteran has submitted medical
records from his private physician, Ludwig Eglseder. A
statement from Craig Bash, M.D., has also been received in
support of the veteran's claim. A review of Dr. Eglseder's
records shows that on June 15, 1992, the veteran reported for
treatment of sudden low back pain, with some radicular pain
to his testicles, after driving a crane over a bridge two
days earlier. Dr. Eglseder diagnosed acute lumbar disc
injury, which had improved to the extent that he could return
to work, with some restrictions, as of June 22, 1992. A
subsequent notation on June 30, 1992, indicated that the
veteran was once again having problems with his back after
riding in a cement truck. An MRI conducted for Dr. Eglseder
in July 1992 was noted to be abnormal, showing desiccation of
the L4 and L5 discs and apophyseal overgrowth at L4-5
resulting in a mild, lateral impression on the sac at this
level. Similar, but lesser, changes were noted on the left.
The diagnosis was that of lumbar disc displacement.
Based on a review of the veteran's claims folder, Dr. Bash
stated that he agreed with the diagnoses of lumbosacral
strain, lumbar disc disease and arthritis of the lumbar
spine. In addressing the July 1992 MRI, Dr. Bash commented
that the indications recorded demonstrated the presence of a
chronic degenerative condition of both the discs and
vertebral bodies, which predated and could not have developed
coincident with the June 1992 incident. He further opined
that "the injury in 1984 and the cumulative effect of many
parachute jumps during his Army service very likely initiated
the degenerative process of the discs and vertebrae of the
lumbar spine." He also noted that "[t]he sudden onset of
severe symptoms in 1992 likely represent[ed] an acute
exacerbation and progression of the underlying chronic
condition, which had its origins in the Army."
The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence
supports the veteran's claim of service connection for a low
back disability manifested by lumbosacral strain, lumbar disc
disease and arthritis of the lumbar spine.
The Board notes significantly that Dr. Bash, after review of
the claims folder, specifically disputed the RO's implication
that the veteran's low back disorder had its onset in June
1992 and carefully reasoned that his low back disability was,
in fact, related to his military service.
Thus, the Board finds that service connection for a low back
disability, manifested by lumbosacral strain, lumbar disc
disease and arthritis of the lumbar spine, is warranted.
ORDER
Service connection for a low back disability manifested by
lumbosacral strain, lumbar disc disease and arthritis of the
lumbar spine is granted.
