The Veteran is entitled to an effective date of April 27, 2004 for the grant of a TDIU due to service-connected disabilities preventing him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
The deciding factor: The earliest evidence showing unemployability was a private medical record dated March 23, 2004 stating the Veteran was totally disabled. The Board found this report consistent with the findings of the VA examiner in June 2004 and granted an effective date of April 27, 2004.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine, Sciatica of the right lower extremity, Sciatica of the left lower extremity, Healed fracture of the left ankle
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 80%
- Decision date
- September 24, 2015
- Citation
- 1541199
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 1541199.
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 Veteran's claims for increased ratings for left ankle and lumbosacral spine disabilities were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings under applicable VA rating criteria.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at a 40 percent evaluation, effective from the date of the May 2013 rating decision.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for TDIU as his service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a low back disability and sciatica of both lower extremities, to include as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected foot and knee disabilities, due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
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