The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected disabilities have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, and thus grants a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the veteran is precluded from all forms of substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities, including bilateral L4-5 lumbar radiculopathy and lumbosacral strain with myositis.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral L4-5 lumbar radiculopathy, lumbosacral strain with myositis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- February 27, 2003
- Citation
- 0303393
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 362 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0303393.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability and sick sinus syndrome have been granted service connection. The lumbar spine disability is presumed due to continuous symptoms since service separation, while the sick sinus syndrome was not found to be related to in-service herbicide exposure or directly caused by any other condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's lumbosacral strain with myositis is rated at 20 percent, but the Board has remanded for further development due to insufficient evidence regarding the extent of his disability and its impact on his ability to work.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's lumbosacral strain with myositis and TDIU claims are being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination and development of her employment history.
- Granted
The Veteran is entitled to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) as of November 4, 2004 due to his service-connected lumbar spine disorder and adjustment disorder.
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