The Board denied an increased rating for the veteran's degenerative disc disease of the thoracic and lumbar spine, finding that his disability picture more nearly approximates a 20 percent evaluation under old IVDS criteria.
The deciding factor: The veteran's disability was characterized as moderate recurring attacks, not severe enough to warrant a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative disc disease of the thoracic and lumbar spine, sciatic pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- September 11, 2006
- Citation
- 0628674
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · 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 0628674.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for thoracolumbar spine disability, IBS, sciatic pain, anxiety, and depression as there is no evidence of a current disability or in-service event that would support these claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases due to new evidence received by VA, and the AOJ should review this evidence in the first instance.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral foot disorder, finding that her current conditions are not related to her military service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine and thoracic/lumbar spine, both secondary to left shoulder fracture.
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