The Board granted increased ratings of 40 percent for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease and 20 percent for cervical strain with degenerative disc disease, effective from the date of the appealed July 1996 rating decision.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations showed marked limitation of motion in both lumbar and cervical spine disabilities, including loss of lateral motion, x-ray findings of degenerative disc disease, and functional impairment due to pain. These findings supported a higher evaluation under the applicable criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease, cervical strain with degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- June 9, 2006
- Citation
- 0617019
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,547 · Granted: 20% (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 0617019.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease and right lower extremity radiculopathy affecting the sciatic nerve, effective January 12, 2024. Attorney fees are eligible based on past due benefits awarded in this decision.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease, headaches, an acquired psychiatric disorder (other specified trauma and stressor related disorder and PTSD), and Parkinson's disease. The conditions are presumed to be due to exposure in service.,Service connection is established for all four claimed conditions.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal because a concurrent election for review was made, which is not allowed. The Veteran's claim of service connection for cervical strain with degenerative disc disease cannot be reviewed by the Board.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection were denied due to lack of evidence supporting the conditions prior to August 4, 2021.
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