The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability and restored the Veteran's 40 percent rating for lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritic changes. The appeal regarding the propriety of reducing the 40 percent rating to 20 percent is dismissed as moot due to the grant of service connection.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports a nexus between the Veteran's current acquired psychiatric disability and his service-connected disabilities, including lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritic changes. The reduction in the 40 percent rating for lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome was improper as it did not reflect improvement.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disability, Lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome with degenerative arthritic changes, Residual sprain of the left ankle with degenerative joint disease
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- December 27, 2018
- Citation
- 18160400
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 18160400.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal regarding attorney fees for past-due benefits awarded in a June 2021 rating decision is dismissed as moot due to the waiver of rights by R.V.C.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's request to readjudicate the claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability with alcohol and drug abuse is granted. The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence sufficient to readjudicate the claim has been received, but further development is needed due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding verification of reported deaths in service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection for a low back condition and an acquired psychiatric disability are dismissed as procedural defects due to the overlapping nature of the appeals.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, finding that his claimed stressors did not meet the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD and concluding that there was no causal relationship between any current mental health condition and his military service.
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