The Veteran's lumbar spine disability was previously rated at 20 percent from March 3, 2015 to January 3, 2020 and increased to 40 percent effective January 3, 2020. The Board finds that the evidence does not support a higher rating for any period.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lumbar spine disability has been rated based on limitation of motion and IVDS criteria. However, there is no evidence showing forward flexion limited to 30 degrees or less at any point during the appeal period.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar degenerative disc disease with arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- October 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20070319
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,913 · Granted: 30% (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 20070319.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that there was a duty to assist error and remanded the claims for service connection for lumbar degenerative disc disease with arthritis and bilateral hearing loss due to noise exposure during active military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The veteran's lumbar degenerative disc disease with arthritis does not warrant a rating in excess of 40 percent. The claims for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to the low back disorder are remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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