The Board granted the veteran's claim, assigning a 20 percent disability rating for his chronic low back strain with degenerative disc disease as of the effective date of the new rating criteria.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence showed that the veteran's condition met the criteria for a 20 percent rating under the revised rating criteria for spine disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic low back strain with degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- January 19, 2006
- Citation
- 0601649
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,419 · Granted: 21% (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 0601649.
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 the need for additional VA examinations and addendum opinions regarding the Veteran's service-connected knee and back disabilities, as well as the qualifications of the November 2023 examiner.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a rating in excess of 40 percent for his service-connected chronic low back strain with degenerative disc disease and for TDIU due to service-connected disabilities prior to September 21, 2017. The remand includes requests for additional VA examinations and for obtaining private treatment records.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for chronic low back strain with degenerative disc disease was denied. The evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his symptoms and range of motion.
- Granted
The Veteran's back disability is currently rated at 10 percent, and he has been granted a TDIU. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for his back disability.
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