The Veteran's osteoarthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine were granted separate disability ratings, while his generalized osteoarthritis of the hands and elbow did not meet criteria for a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the severity of the Veteran's osteoarthritis in different regions of the spine, which warranted increased ratings but not for the hands and elbow.
- Claimed conditions
- Generalized osteoarthritis of the hands and elbow, Osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, Osteoarthritis of the cervical spine, Neurological manifestations (right upper extremity)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 19, 2009
- Citation
- 0910393
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,440 · Granted: 30% (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 0910393.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and right ankle disorder.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right ankle condition was dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeal during his Board Hearing. The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine, spinal stenosis, and lumbar-sacral spondylosis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the cases for further examinations and consideration of service connection claims due to lack of recent evaluations.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for her lumbar spine disability was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not warrant a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic codes.
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