The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his lumbar strain has been granted, with a 40 percent disability rating effective from January 25, 2012.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran had forward flexion of 60 degrees and extension to 20 degrees, which is within the criteria for a 40 percent rating under Diagnostic Code 5237 (General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine).
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar strain, rheumatoid arthritis (implied by degenerative changes in X-rays)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 26, 2013
- Citation
- 1342918
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 1342918.
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.
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The Board has granted service connection for lumbar strain and lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with left sciatica. The right lower extremity sciatica claim is remanded due to a duty-to-assist error.
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The Board has determined that the Veteran's back disability, diagnosed as lumbar strain, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, is causally related to service. As such, service connection for this condition is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for left ankle sprain, right ankle sprain, anxiety with situational type phobia, left hip strain, left knee strain, right knee strain, and lumbar strain are granted effective March 3, 2022.,An earlier effective date of March 3, 2022, is assigned for the Veteran's service connection claims.
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