The Veteran's lower back disability was denied a rating in excess of 20 percent for the period prior to December 23, 2016 and a rating in excess of 40 percent since that date.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner indicated that the Veteran’s range of motion had worsened since his last examination with decreased forward flexion and limited lateral rotation.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- January 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19101133
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (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 19101133.
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 Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been received to reconsider the Veteran's claims for service connection for left hip, left knee, right hip, and lower back disabilities. The claim for left hip disability is remanded due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for left knee and lower back disabilities due to incomplete information about the Veteran's duty status during his periods of active service in the National Guard and Reserves.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's lower back disability, finding that it is etiologically related to his in-service duties of lifting heavy equipment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for lower back disability, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, CFS, and PTSD due to lack of a current diagnosis. The appeal is now remanded for further development.
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