The Board denied the veteran's claim for an increased rating for her service-connected mechanical low back pain with degenerative changes, finding that there was no evidence to support a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not find any additional loss in range of motion due to pain or other factors as required by DeLuca v. Brown (1995).
- Claimed conditions
- mechanical low back pain with degenerative changes
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 27, 2001
- Citation
- 0108996
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0108996.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for painful motion of the little and ring fingers, left and right hands have been dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeals prior to a decision.,The Veteran's radiculopathy of the lower extremities has been granted separate disability ratings.
- Denied
The Veteran's immediate cause of death was hypertensive and atherosclerotic heart disease. The Board found that the service-connected conditions did not contribute to his death, and there were no pending claims for accrued benefits at the time of his death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to insufficient evidence and requests for additional examinations.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability is rated at 40 percent, effective January 9, 2001. The rating for his left knee and right knee disabilities remains at 20 percent each, while the right shoulder disability continues to be rated at 20 percent.
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