The Board denied reopening the claim for a right foot disability and denied an increased evaluation for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine. The veteran's current rating for his back condition is 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not establish that the veteran's current low back disability was incurred in service, and the RO recharacterized it as degenerative joint disease rather than spondylolisthesis or spondylosis.
- Claimed conditions
- Right foot disorder, Degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- May 12, 2003
- Citation
- 0308931
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 541 · Granted: 32% (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 0308931.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied extraschedular ratings for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to February 3, 2011.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of his low back disability is being remanded due to the reduction in evaluation from 40 percent to 20 percent effective May 31, 2014. The RO needs to provide updated VA treatment records and schedule a VA examination to determine the current severity of the disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a right foot disorder and a left foot disorder, finding that these conditions are etiologically related to the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's cervical strain with spinal fusion is rated at 20 percent, and the Board denied an increased rating.,The Veteran's degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine is rated at 20 percent, and the Board denied an increased rating.
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