The Veteran's lumbar spine disability was denied a rating in excess of 10 percent prior to September 27, 2019.,Effective since September 27, 2019, the Veteran's lumbar spine disability has been rated at 20 percent.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not show forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine less than 30 degrees or a combined range of motion of the thoracolumbar spine not greater than 120 degrees, which are required for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 5242.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative changes of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- January 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20002159
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 112 · Granted: 22% (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 20002159.
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 remanded the claim of service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, finding that the VA examination and opinion were inadequate as they did not consider the Veteran's complete medical history. The case is now to be reviewed with an addendum VA opinion.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because the Board Appeal request was not timely filed with respect to the June 14, 2023 rating decision that decreased the rating for degenerative changes of the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective September 1, 2023.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability and an acquired psychiatric disability, but remanded the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected degenerative changes of the lumbar spine and increased the disability rating for the lumbar spine to 20 percent effective August 18, 2023.
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