The Veteran is granted a 40 percent rating for lumbar degenerative disc disease with spondylosis prior to February 25, 2013. The Veteran's right lower extremity radiculopathy was rated as non-compensable prior to November 20, 2017 and is now granted a 20 percent rating from that date.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations provided evidence of significant functional impairment due to pain and limited range of motion, which supported the grant of higher ratings for both conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar degenerative disc disease with spondylosis, right lumbar radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19120731
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 317 · Granted: 19% (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 19120731.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right and left lumbar radiculopathy as the underlying primary low back disability is not an adjudicated service-connected condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for sleep apnea, transient global amnesia, tinnitus, and PTSD have been denied. The Board has found that there is no competent evidence of these conditions during the pendency of the claim.,For the lumbar spine disability, the Veteran was granted service connection but a higher rating remains in dispute.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for chronic sinusitis, fibromyalgia, and CFS. The Veteran's hearing loss, lumbar spine disability, radiculopathy, shoulder disability, knee meniscal tear, knee limitation of extension, knee scars, GERD, allergic rhinitis, asthma, and PTSD were also not rated higher than their current levels.
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