The Veteran's lumbar sprain is rated at 20 percent, but not higher, effective October 3, 2019.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s orthopedic impairment associated with the service-connected low back disability causes severe pain and functional limitations, warranting a 20 percent rating under the general rating formula for diseases and injuries of the spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar Sprain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20064542
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (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 20064542.
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 Veteran's service-connected Social Anxiety Disorder resulted in significant occupational and social impairment, but not total impairment. The claim for a higher rating was denied.,The Veteran met the criteria for TDIU based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine disability and radiculopathies, as well as his claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU). The Veteran is to be provided another opportunity for a VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and consideration of his service-connected lumbar spine disability, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathies, and their impact on employment.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for PTSD and Lumbar Sprain was denied as there is no evidence that a prior informal claim existed before August 14, 2014.
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