The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 40 percent, effective October 15, 2018. His PTSD with major depressive disorder is rated as total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU).
The deciding factor: The VA determined that the Veteran’s symptoms of his low back disorder and PTSD met the criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disorder (degenerative joint disease and annular tear of lumbar spine), Acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD with major depressive disorder)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- June 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19149165
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 19149165.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial 50 percent rating for acquired psychiatric disorder and a 10 percent rating for right knee disability, effective December 18, 2019. The TDIU claim was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a rating greater than 50 percent for an acquired psychiatric disorder but granted increased ratings of 20 percent for left, right knee strains and right ankle strain.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of March 23, 2001 for the award of TDIU and DEA benefits. The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have prevented him from securing or following any substantially gainful occupation since that date.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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