The veteran's lumbar spine and sciatic conditions were rated at 20 percent, and service connection for hypertension was denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a higher rating due to the limited range of motion and moderate symptoms, and there was no link between hypertension and active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) and degenerative joint disease (DJD) lumbar spine, Sciatica with radiculopathy left lower extremity secondary to DDD and DJD lumbar spine, Sciatica with radiculopathy right lower extremity secondary to DDD and DJD lumbar spine, Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0901935
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,500 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0901935.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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