The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability warrants a combined rating of 40 percent, reflecting severe intervertebral disc syndrome with incapacitating episodes having a total duration of at least 6 weeks during the past 12 months.
The deciding factor: Severe intervertebral disc syndrome was demonstrated by the VA examinations and X-rays, which included findings of muscle spasm, weakness of the anterior tibial group muscles, intermittent claudication, and incapacitating episodes lasting up to 4-5 days during winter. These findings met the criteria for a 40 percent rating under the revised criteria effective September 23, 2002.
- Claimed conditions
- Low Back Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 15, 2006
- Citation
- 0607494
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · Granted: 17% (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 0607494.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
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