The Veteran's claim for increased rating of his thoracolumbar spine disorder is granted, with a current rating of 40 percent.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran’s disability more nearly approximates limitation of flexion to 30 degrees or less from July 19, 2017, which warrants a higher 40 percent rating under the General Rating Formula for Disease and Injuries of the Spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Shoulder Disorder, Right Knee Disorder, Sleep Apnea, Right Hip Disorder, Gastrointestinal Disorder (due to environmental hazards in Gulf War), Headaches, Degenerative Disc Disease of the Thoracolumbar Spine with History of Herniated Nucleus Pulposus (HNP) of T8 and T9, Status Post T8-T9 Spinal Fusion, Erectile Dysfunction, Tinnitus, Radiculopathy of the Left Lower Extremity, Radiculopathy of the Right Lower Extremity
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19126611
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (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 19126611.
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 bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's erectile dysfunction is secondary to his service-connected major depressive disorder, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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