The veteran's low back disability is rated at 40 percent, which includes both orthopedic and neurological manifestations. The neurological manifestations are rated separately as mild incomplete paralysis of the sciatic nerve.
The deciding factor: The veteran's low back disability does not meet criteria for a higher rating based on ankylosis or incapacitating episodes, but his neurological manifestations (mild incomplete paralysis) do warrant separate ratings.
- Claimed conditions
- degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine with radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- January 26, 2007
- Citation
- 0702404
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 0702404.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded due to the need for further development and consideration of his reported effects of pain medication on his employability.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the veteran's degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine with radiculopathy is not related to his service or herbicide exposure, and therefore denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA medical records and scheduling orthopedic and neurologic examinations to assess the severity of his service-connected low back disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including a VA examination to assess the impact of service-connected disabilities on the veteran's employability.
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