The Veteran's service-connected thoracolumbar spine disability renders him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation, and the Board grants TDIU on an extra-schedular basis.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran has significant limitation with range of motion at his thoracolumbar spine and pain, preventing him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation due to his service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Thoracolumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19118702
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 19118702.
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 has determined that the Veteran's claimed disabilities of right and left knee, right and left foot, and thoracolumbar spine are not service-connected as they were not shown to be incurred or aggravated during his military service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal of the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating due to individual unemployability (TDIU) as it was fully addressed in a previous decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased disability rating for thoracolumbar spine, service connection for right knee disability, and entitlement to TDIU prior to October 27, 2022 are all remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations and evaluations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient examination reports and lack of etiological opinions. The Veteran's complaints of low back pain, left knee arthritis, and cervical spine DDD are being reviewed again.
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