The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date based on a timely VA Form 9 appeal, as the Veteran filed his appeal after the one-year period from the October 2016 rating decision. The Board found that there was no CUE in the denial of service connection and thus could not grant an earlier effective date.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the March 23, 2017 Statement of the Case was properly sent to the Veteran's attorney and that he had sufficient notice regarding the timeframe for filing a VA Form 9 appeal. The Board also found no CUE in the denial of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19160628
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 19160628.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Granted
The Veteran's rating for residuals status post lumbar fusion was reduced from 40 percent to 20 percent effective October 25, 2023. The reduction was granted as there was no evidence of actual improvement in the Veteran's condition prior to this date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability is being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors and the need for a VA examination.
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