Back / lumbar spine decisions — 2025

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including obstructive sleep apnea and back disability, preclude his ability to secure and follow substantially gainful employment from March 19, 2025.

The Board remands the issues of entitlement to higher disability ratings for lumbar spine and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as effective dates for TDIU and DEA, due to non-compliance with prior remand directives.

The Board remands the appeal for additional development, including a retrospective opinion regarding range of motion during flare-ups and requesting evidence pertaining to the Veteran's annual income prior to January 2010.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to obtain and maintain substantially gainful employment, thus granting a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU).

The veteran was granted a 100 percent disability rating for the thoracic spine (T12) compression fracture with lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, effective June 21, 2019.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals remands the claims for service connection for a back condition, left leg condition, and bilateral foot condition due to errors in the previous decision.

The appeal for an increased disability rating in excess of 70 percent from June 4, 2015, to July 12, 2022, for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with persistent depressive disorder was denied.

The Board granted service connection for a back condition, to include post-operative fusion at L5-S1 and degenerative disc disease, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.

The veteran was granted an initial disability rating of 40 percent, but no higher, from December 26, 2017, for right lower extremity (RLE) sciatica.

The Board granted service connection for left knee strain, lumbar disc disease, and cervical spine disability based on evidence supporting an in-service onset of symptoms that have continued to the present.

The Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased disability evaluations and TDIU due to missing records.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes, sleep apnea, prostate cancer, urinary incontinence, residuals of gallbladder removal, gout and low back disability, as well as entitlement to a TDIU prior to April 20, 2023, due to inadequate medical opinions.

The Veteran was granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) from March 23, 2011 to May 10, 2022, excluding the period of full-time employment from August 5, 2021 to December 4, 2021. The claims for increased ratings for various service-connected disabilities were denied.

The Board remands the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his thoracolumbar spine and radiculopathy conditions, as well as a separate rating for femoral nerve radiculopathy, to obtain additional medical evidence.

The Board denied a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) prior to July 1, 2015, and from January 10, 2017, as well as an effective date earlier than July 1, 2015, for the award of Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits.

The Board granted an earlier effective date of September 1, 2016, for the 40 percent rating assigned for degenerative disc disease of the thoracolumbar spine and denied a rating in excess of 40 percent.

The Board reinstated the 50 percent disability rating for squamous cell carcinoma of the scalp with surgical scars, effective February 19, 2024. Service connection was also restored for lumbosacral strain and various radiculopathies.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, while remanding claims for depression, anxiety, sleep disorder, right knee strain, left knee strain, and lumbar spine strain.

The Board restored the 10 percent rating for GERD, denied increased ratings for other conditions, and remanded service connection claims.

The Board denied service connection for lumbosacral strain and bilateral hearing loss, but granted service connection for tinnitus. The claims for right knee strain and left knee strain were remanded.