The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression) and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy are granted service connection, with the Board finding that these conditions are at least as likely as not related to his service-connected back disability. The neck disorder is remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found a link between the Veteran's service-connected back disability and his acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression) and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, but were unable to determine if the neck disorder was related to his service-connected back disability due to lack of information on the impact of unnatural postures.
- Claimed conditions
- acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression), bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, neck disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20001053
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 20001053.
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
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Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection of a low back disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, finding inadequate medical opinions due to failure to consider all relevant evidence.
- Granted
For the period prior to October 29, 2021, SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) based on housebound status is denied.,For the entire appeal period, SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(l) based on need of regular aid and attendance is granted.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted an effective date of December 10, 2015 for total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and basic eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA). The decision also grants earlier effective dates for these benefits.
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