The Veteran's lumbar spine disability was rated at 10 percent prior to March 1, 2007, and increased to 20 percent effective that date. The evidence did not support a higher rating for either period.
The deciding factor: The criteria for ratings in excess of 10 percent before March 1, 2007, and 20 percent after were not met due to the limited range of motion and lack of other symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes, lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910494
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,011 · Granted: 24% (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 0910494.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative changes of the lumbar spine were caused by an injury during a period of active duty for training (ADT) in August 1999, and the Board has granted service connection for this condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development to determine if the Veteran's current back disability is at least as likely as not proximately due to or aggravated by her service-connected right ankle sprain.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative changes, lumbar spine as not related to her in-service injuries and found that it was not proximately due or aggravated by her service-connected right ankle sprain.
- Denied
The Board denied a TDIU on an extraschedular basis prior to September 14, 2011 due to the preponderance of evidence showing that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from securing and following substantially gainful employment.
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