The VA denied the veteran's claim for an increased disability evaluation for his service-connected traumatic arthritis of the lumbar spine, as it did not meet the criteria for a higher rating than 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The veteran's traumatic arthritis of the lumbar spine was manifested by slight limitation of motion without muscle spasm or neurological involvement and did not result in less than 85 degrees forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine, which is required for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- traumatic arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- August 31, 2006
- Citation
- 0627627
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 425 · 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 0627627.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU were denied due to his failure to report for VA examinations, and the claim for TDIU was considered abandoned.
- Denied
The Veteran's application for total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) was granted effective August 1, 2016. The Board denied an earlier effective date prior to this date.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings and TDIU has been dismissed as he is already receiving the maximum combined rating for his service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Board's decision was vacated due to a failure to fully comply with the Veteran's FOIA request for copies of prior VA examinations.
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