The Veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than March 18, 2009 for the award of service connection and a separate disability rating for right lower extremity radiculopathy is denied. The claim for an effective date earlier than February 11, 2014 for the award of service connection for tension headaches is granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not submit a formal or informal claim for these conditions prior to the respective effective dates.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Disability (Deep Facet Syndrome), Right Lower Extremity Radiculopathy, Left Lower Extremity Radiculopathy, Tension Headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- August 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19163227
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 19163227.
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 denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, except for a 20 percent rating for lumbosacral strain.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an increased initial evaluation of 70 percent for PTSD but denied evaluations in excess of 10% for tension headaches and in excess of 30% for IBS, and denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome. The claims for additional service connections were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and facial scars, status post excision of cyst of left and right jaw. However, it granted an initial 40% rating for right lower extremity radiculopathy from June 3, 2024.
- Dismissed
All appeals for service connection and increased ratings were dismissed due to concurrent elections in the Supplemental Claim.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.