The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his lumbar spine condition was denied, but he received a grant of a 40 percent initial disability rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy starting from April 30, 2018. The right lower extremity radiculopathy and surgical scars of the spine claims were denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's condition did not meet the criteria for a higher rating based on his lumbar spine condition or right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine intervertebral and degenerative disc disease, bilateral sacroiliac dysfunction, left lower extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- May 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19138123
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (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 19138123.
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 appeals were dismissed due to the death of the appellant. The issues related to service connection for various conditions and disability ratings.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy and denied the claims for right knee disability, erectile dysfunction, GERD, sleep apnea, and hypertension. The decision is remanded for further action on these issues.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection for middle and index trigger finger/stenosing tenosynovitis of the right hand, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy. The earliest effective date is June 30, 2012, for the right hand condition and April 22, 2016, for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.
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