The VA Regional Office (RO) continued the veteran's 40 percent disability rating for his lumbar spine disability, which was previously diagnosed as residuals of a low back injury with herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP).
The deciding factor: The RO did not grant an increased rating due to lack of evidence supporting a higher evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- status postoperative lumbar degenerative disc disease at L5-S1, residuals of a low back injury with herniated nucleus pulposus (HNP)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2004
- Citation
- 0416044
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,710 · 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 0416044.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The veteran's low back disability was granted a 60% rating effective from August 6, 2004. The decision also noted that the issue of whether separate neurological ratings should be assigned remains in appellate status.
- Granted
The veteran's increased rating claim for his service-connected low back disability was granted, with a 60 percent rating effective from August 6, 2004. The issue of whether separate neurological ratings should be assigned remains in appellate status.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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