The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have prevented him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation prior to March 22, 2017. The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether he can secure or follow such an occupation.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability and associated radiculopathy have rendered him unable to perform substantially gainful employment prior to March 22, 2017.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2020
- Citation
- 20021244
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 20021244.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied extraschedular ratings for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to February 3, 2011.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for increased ratings for degenerative arthritis of the cervical spine and lumbar spine was granted with effective dates of May 13, 2019.
- Granted
The Veteran's degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine was diagnosed during service and has continued since then. The Board granted service connection for this condition based on continuity of symptomatology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate examinations and the need for a retrospective opinion regarding the severity of his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
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