The Veteran's back disability is rated at 40 percent, and his right and left lower extremity sciatica are each rated at 20 percent. The Veteran also received a TDIU rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities meet the criteria for a 40 percent rating for degenerative disc disease of L5-S1, as well as separate 20 percent ratings for right and left lower extremity sciatica.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease of L5-S1, Right Lower Extremity Sciatica, Left Lower Extremity Sciatica
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- February 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19111347
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 19111347.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including heart disorder, GERD, liver disorder, and peripheral neuropathy. The decision also noted that the Veteran's sciatica was not incurred in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's death was caused by heart failure, which the Board finds may be service-connected through secondary service connection due to obesity resulting from his service-connected PTSD and back disability. However, VA failed to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether obesity is a substantial factor in causing heart failure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma under the PACT Act but denied service connection for GERD, right lower extremity sciatica, left lower extremity sciatica, and bilateral hearing loss.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for Bell's Palsy, bilateral hearing loss, contact dermatitis, migraines, and right lower extremity sciatica due to a lack of new and relevant evidence.
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