The Board denied service connection for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, radiculopathy in the right lower extremity, and radiculopathy in the left lower extremity. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no direct link between the current diagnoses and service, and secondary service connection was also denied due to separate pathologies.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease of the Lumbar Spine, Radiculopathy, Right Lower Extremity, Radiculopathy, Left Lower Extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- A19002943
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19002943.
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 Veteran's claim for an increased rating in excess of 20 percent for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine is denied.,The Veteran's claim for an initial increased rating in excess of 10 percent for right knee degenerative arthritis is remanded due to inadequate examination report.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for PTSD was granted, and his claims for increased ratings of degenerative arthritis of the spine with spinal stenosis, radiculopathy left lower extremity, and radiculopathy right lower extremity were also granted. The effective dates are not specified as they are based on when the claims were filed or denied.
- Granted
The reduction of the Veteran's lumbar spine and cervical spine disability ratings from 40% to 20% was improper, and the prior ratings are restored.
- Denied
The Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disability is rated at 20 percent, and the appeal for an increased rating has been denied. The Board also found that TDIU was granted as of January 16, 2010, but not earlier.
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