Throughout the rating period, the veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine was manifested by severe limitation of motion and moderate neurologic deficit. The current evaluation of 60 percent is appropriate given these findings.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence supports a finding of no more than moderate neurologic deficit, warranting a 20% rating under Diagnostic Codes 8520, 8521, 8524, or 8526 for the neurologic manifestations. The orthopedic manifestations were evaluated as severe (40%) and combined with the neurologic findings result in a total of 60%. No higher rating is warranted under any other diagnostic codes.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- May 17, 2006
- Citation
- 0614385
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (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 0614385.
What this means for you
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- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection on multiple conditions has been dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for tinnitus to September 23, 2020 and denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, GERD, hypothyroidism, neck disability, PTSD, acquired psychiatric disorder, degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine, and osteoarthritis.
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