The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled that the criteria for entitlement to service connection for a back disability are met and that service connection is warranted.
The deciding factor: The clinical evidence established current diagnoses of neuropathy, arthritis, sciatic and femoral nerve root peripheral neuropathy, degenerative disc disease, degenerative joint disease (spondylosis), and a scar of the posterior left back, all of which were found to have been incurred in active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Neuropathy of the cervical spine, Arthritis of the cervical spine, Sciatic and femoral nerve root peripheral neuropathy of the lumbar spine, Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Degenerative joint disease (spondylosis) of the lumbosacral spine, A scar of the posterior left back
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 23, 2009
- Citation
- 0910744
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (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 0910744.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for his lumbar spine and right hip disabilities due to a duty to assist error. The effective date for DEA benefits is granted as May 1, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date and higher initial rating for his back disability is denied. The effective date remains March 29, 2021, as the earliest date of claim. An initial rating in excess of 20 percent for the back disability from March 29, 2021, is also denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's low back disability and right leg radiculopathy are granted service connection, but left leg radiculopathy is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for TDIU, finding that his service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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