The VA denied the Veteran's claim because they had to recoup his separation pay, which was deducted from his disability compensation benefits.
The deciding factor: VA law requires that separation pay be recouped and the Veteran cannot receive both separation pay and VA compensation.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disability with left lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19106893
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19106893.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability with left lower extremity radiculopathy, but denied service connection for hypertension.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection and earlier effective date were denied. The Veteran was granted service connection for PTSD with depression, but the effective date of this grant is set at February 14, 2006. The Veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD with depression remains pending. His TDIU claim also remains pending.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches are rated at a maximum of 50 percent since January 22, 2009. The effective date for the award of TDIU is set to July 20, 2009.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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