The Veteran's claim for an increased disability rating for his service-connected lumbar degenerative disc disease was denied as the evidence did not show incapacitating episodes requiring bed rest prescribed by a physician and treated by a physician.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine was greater than 30 degrees, with no indication of ankylosis or incapacitating episodes.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Arthritis of Lumbar Spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 1, 2012
- Citation
- 1234175
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 1234175.
What this means for you
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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 increased ratings for his lumbar spine disability and TDIU due to procedural errors in the duty to assist.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his right and left knee replacements, as well as degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, were denied. The evidence did not support a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic codes.
- Denied
The Veteran's right thumb and hand conditions were denied initial compensable ratings.,Service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was dismissed as it has been granted in full.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals regarding a higher initial disability rating for the service-connected back scar and an earlier effective date for service connection. The reduction from 40% to 20% in the disability rating for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was found proper based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in the January 2016 rating decision.
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