The Veteran's claim for service connection for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease was granted with an effective date of July 11, 2008. The Board found that the proper effective date is based on when the Veteran filed his application for pension, which he later confirmed was based on a claim for in-service back injury.
The deciding factor: The effective date is set at the date of the Veteran's application for pension, July 11, 2008, as it is considered the earliest date entitlement arose and aligns with his confirmation that the application was based on an in-service back injury claim.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 23, 2020
- Citation
- A20014806
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 A20014806.
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 service connection for lumbar spine degenerative arthritis and DDD, as well as right and left lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to the now service-connected lumbar spine condition. The decision is based on a finding of relative equipoise in the evidence regarding whether these conditions are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error regarding the service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy, including as aggravated by service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD).
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral spine disability, including spondylosis, lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD), facet joint arthritis, and L4-5 disc bulge, is now rated at 40 percent effective June 11, 2019.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's requests to appeal the May 12, 2023 rating decision that granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and denied service connection for lumbar spine DDD, left heel injury, and right knee injury. The reasons given were that the appeals were not timely filed.
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