The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at 10 percent prior to January 8, 2018 and at 20 percent thereafter. The right lower extremity radiculopathy is currently rated at 20 percent.,Service connection for persistent depressive disorder was remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lumbar spine disability did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under the General Rating Formula due to lack of ankylosis or severe muscle spasms. The right lower extremity radiculopathy met the criteria for a 20 percent rating based on moderate incomplete paralysis.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine herniated bulge disc at L5-S1, persistent depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- December 27, 2018
- Citation
- 18160547
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 18160547.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's service connection for other specified trauma and stressor-related disorder with persistent depressive disorder, anxious distress, and pure dysthymic syndrome was granted. The appeal for PTSD is dismissed as moot because the issue has been rendered irrelevant by the grant of service connection in another appeal stream.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's persistent depressive disorder, moderate with anxious distress and panic attacks is related to his service in the Republic of Vietnam. The decision grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him so helpless as to require the regular aid and attendance of another person, but his service-connected persistent depressive disorder alone rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted SMC at the housebound rate.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including other specified trauma and stressor related disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and persistent depressive disorder. The Veteran's current disability is found to be at least as likely as not due to the in-service event of his father's death.
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