The Veteran is unable to secure or maintain substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities, and the Board has granted a TDIU for the period prior to November 13, 2015.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability, mechanical low back pain, left upper extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy have rendered him unable to secure or maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of his disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disability, Mechanical low back pain, Left upper extremity radiculopathy, Left lower extremity radiculopathy, Right lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186459
Veterans Law Judge
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 19186459.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted effective dates of July 10, 2024 for service connection for PTSD, lumbar strain, and left lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Denied
The Veteran's right lower extremity radiculopathy was evaluated at a 20 percent rating, and the Board found that it did not meet the criteria for a higher evaluation.
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