The Veteran's cervical spine disability is now rated at 30 percent effective September 5, 2013. His lumbar spine disability was initially rated at 10 percent from November 26, 2014 and increased to 20 percent since June 13, 2018.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations showed limited range of motion for both cervical and lumbar spine disabilities, with pain limiting the Veteran's ability to fully flex his neck and back. The Board found that these findings warranted higher ratings based on the criteria set forth in the Rating Schedule.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical strain, lumbar strain and discogenic disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- April 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19124536
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,017 · Granted: 36% (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 19124536.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection were dismissed due to a procedural defect in filing the claims on the correct form.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for migraine headaches and cervical strain due to a duty to assist error. The AOJ failed to obtain VA medical opinions addressing the etiology of these disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for service connection of chronic neck pain and cervical strain, finding that the Veteran did not file a claim for these conditions until June 28, 2013.
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