The Veteran's low back disability and sciatic radiculopathy of the lower extremities are not rated higher than their current levels.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations consistently showed significant limitation of motion, pain, and weakness in the lumbar spine and lower extremities, but no evidence of unfavorable ankylosis or more severe neurological deficits that would warrant a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back injury with mechanical low back pain, Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine at L3-4 and L4-5, Left lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, Right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- November 12, 2020
- Citation
- 20072836
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,421 · Granted: 29% (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 20072836.
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.
- Granted
Effective dates of June 4, 2022 are granted for service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder, lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and disc disease, IVDS, spondylosis, scoliosis and healed compression fracture of T7, right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, and right lower extremity femoral radiculopathy.,Effective date of October 5, 2023 is granted for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Granted
The reduction of the Veteran's evaluation for his back disability from 60 percent to 40 percent was improper, and the appeal is granted. The rating in excess of 60 percent for a back disability is denied. The ratings in excess of 20 percent for right lower extremity radiculopathy and left lower extremity radiculopathy are also denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy was not service-connected prior to June 17, 2020. The claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for the disability is also denied.
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