The Veteran was not found to be unemployable due to service-connected disabilities prior to April 1, 2003.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support that the Veteran would have been unable to secure and maintain substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities before April 1, 2003.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, Diabetes Mellitus type II, left knee arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2019
- Citation
- 19167028
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,156 · 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 19167028.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disability, as there are insufficient medical opinions and records. The case will be returned to the AOJ for further development.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial rating for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease was denied, and his claims for right knee, left knee, right hand, left hand, GERD, neck disability, and bilateral hearing loss were also denied. The effective date of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea was granted on December 14, 2022.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development regarding his claims of service connection for PTSD, a rating increase for PTSD, and service connection for pancreatic cancer secondary to diabetes.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeal regarding the service connection for left and right knee arthritis, thus the appeal is dismissed.
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