The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was rated at 10 percent from February 27, 2011 to July 2, 2013. The Board found that his disability met or approximated the criteria for a 10 percent rating during this period due to symptoms including sharp, shooting, aching and spasmodic pain in his back, including radiating pain down his right leg. However, he did not meet the criteria for higher ratings as there was no evidence of forward flexion greater than 30 degrees or abnormal spinal contour.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's disability met the criteria for a 10 percent rating due to symptoms but did not meet the criteria for higher ratings based on range of motion and other findings.
- Claimed conditions
- migraine headaches, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- April 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19132626
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches were granted a 50 percent disability rating, effective August 8, 2023, due to very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that are productive of severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 30 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected migraine headaches, but no greater.
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