The Board granted an earlier effective date of December 22, 1998, for the grant of a 20 percent rating for residuals of a back injury, disc protrusion and degenerative facet changes at L4-5 and L5-S1.
The deciding factor: The veteran's statement received in June 2002 was construed as a notice of disagreement with the March 2002 rating decision, establishing December 22, 1998, as the date of claim. The evidence supports a 20 percent rating beginning from this date.
- Claimed conditions
- residuals of a back injury, disc protrusion and degenerative facet changes at L4-5 and L5-S1
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- January 7, 2009
- Citation
- 0900529
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for residuals of a back injury, head injury, and neck injury as the evidence did not support that these injuries occurred during or while traveling from active duty.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for residuals of a back injury and an effective date earlier than May 26, 2023, for the award of service connection for residuals of a back injury.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's claims for service connection for migraines and residuals of a back injury due to untimely notice of disagreement.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the veteran's claims for service connection of residuals from back, head, and neck injuries due to inadequate efforts by VA to obtain necessary records.
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