The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability was granted with an effective date of December 31, 2014. The Veteran also received a grant for left lower extremity radiculopathy and insomnia. However, the reduction in rating from 20% to 10% for his lumbar spine disability is being remanded.
The deciding factor: The effective date of service connection was based on when the increased rating claim was filed, not when the condition first manifested or when the Veteran initially sought treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Left lower extremity (LLE) radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- March 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19115484
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (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 19115484.
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 the veteran's claims for increased ratings for various disabilities, including lumbar spine degenerative arthritis, radiculopathy of both femoral and sciatic nerves, tension headaches, residual scarring, and PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an initial disability rating in excess of 20 percent for right and left lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, as the evidence showed moderate incomplete paralysis.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a total disability rating for individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities and basic eligibility of Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits as of April 12, 2016.
- Denied
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection and remanded initial rating claims, except for an effective date of April 25, 1999, for left knee disability.
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