The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his spine, knee, and foot conditions, are found to be so severe that they prevent him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment. The Board has granted a TDIU rating.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence shows the Veteran's service-connected disabilities result in significant functional loss due to pain and instability, which prevents him from engaging in substantial gainful employment.
- Claimed conditions
- Spine (L5-S1), Right Knee, Left Ankle/Lateral Ankle, Left Foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- April 28, 2010
- Citation
- 1015408
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 1015408.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a finding of total disability based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, as his service-connected back, bilateral hip, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and left foot disabilities do not prevent him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Partly granted
The Board granted clothing allowances for a back brace and wheelchair, but denied them for a neck brace, bilateral knee braces, pain medication therapy, cane, and walker.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD disability alone precluded him from securing and following substantially gainful employment, warranting a TDIU. The increased rating claim for the PTSD with major depressive disorder, panic disorder, and alcohol use disorder is dismissed as moot due to the grant of TDIU. SMC was granted from June 1, 2023, based on an aggregated 70 percent additional disability rating.
- Granted
The Veteran's right knee disability is rated at 40% from September 12, 2024 to the present. Service connection for a low back disorder was denied as there is no evidence of causation or aggravation by service-connected right knee disability.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.