The Board has determined that the veteran's low back disorder meets the criteria for a 60 percent disability rating.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence shows severe limitation of motion and pronounced symptoms in the left lower extremity, including sciatic neuropathy.
- Claimed conditions
- herniated nucleus pulposus at L5-S1
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- April 22, 2003
- Citation
- 0307651
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,643 · Granted: 15% (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 0307651.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to issues regarding functional loss during flare-ups and after repeated use of the back, as well as the adequacy of previous VA examination reports.
- Granted
The claim for service connection for a low back disability is granted, but the Veteran's appeal is remanded to obtain additional medical records and provide an addendum opinion regarding the etiology of the condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for higher ratings on his low back disability, right shoulder disability, left ankle disability, and residuals of a right fifth metacarpal fracture were denied. His claim for TDIU was also denied.
- Denied
The Board denied all of the Veteran's claims, including service connection for carpal tunnel syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea. The low back disability claim was also denied as there is no evidence that it began during or because of service.
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