The Board has granted service connection for the veteran's lumbar radiculopathy, with an asymmetric disc bulge at the L4-L5 level with associated bilateral neuroforaminal stenosis. The condition is considered to have been incurred in active military service.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinions and the veteran's testimony established a link between his back injury during service and his current lumbar radiculopathy, which was found to be more severe on the left side than the right.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar radiculopathy, facet arthropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 3, 2003
- Citation
- 0303559
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,175 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0303559.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board allowed the benefit or issue identified in this decision. Review the original order: other issues in the same appeal may have a different outcome, and this decision does not predict another claim.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, including degenerative arthritis and IVDS. The decision is based on the Veteran's in-service injury during active duty and his continuous symptoms since then.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar radiculopathy and diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity are rated at 20 percent effective November 6, 2024.
- Denied
The Board found the reduction in disability evaluation from 40% to 20% was improper and void ab initio due to inadequate examination for reduction.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lumbar spine discogenic disease status post surgery, spondylosis, and facet arthropathy as secondary to his service-connected right ankle disability. The SMC claim is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error.
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