The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at 10 percent for the period prior to August 6, 2019 and a rating of 40 percent is granted thereafter. Separate ratings are also granted for left and right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lumbar spine disability was characterized by forward flexion limited at worst to 70 degrees, which does not meet the criteria for a higher rating under DC 5237. Separate ratings of 10 percent are granted for left and right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disease of the lumbar spine, Left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, Right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20080216
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 granted earlier effective dates of June 2, 2023, for the grant of service connection for various conditions and eligibility to Dependents' Educational Assistance.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable disability rating for the Veteran's posterior trunk surgical scar and remanded claims related to his bilateral lower extremity radiculopathies.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for intervertebral disc syndrome with discectomy and laminectomy, left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, and incontinence as secondary to the Veteran's IVDS.
- Denied
The Board denied increased ratings for lumbosacral strain and right lower extremity radiculopathy, while granting a 40 percent rating from November 24, 2020 to August 1, 2022.
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