The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes and increased the rating to 20 percent, effective February 11, 2005. The Board also granted ratings of 20 percent for right and left lower peripheral neuropathy.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the severity of the lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes and the moderate incomplete paralysis of the common peroneal nerve in both lower extremities.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, Lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes, Peripheral neuropathy of the left arm (secondary to chronic lumbosacral strain), Peripheral neuropathy of the right arm (secondary to chronic lumbosacral strain)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2009
- Citation
- 0908084
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (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 0908084.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, finding that there is no evidence linking his current mental health condition to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was denied as the stressors could not be verified, and there is no evidence of fear of hostile military or terrorist activity.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. The VA medical opinions provided prior to the March 2025 rating decision on appeal are based on incorrect premises and need to be reconsidered.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors, specifically failing to verify an in-service stressor and not affording a VA examination.
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