The Veteran is granted a TDIU based on his lumbosacral strain and an additional service-connected disability rated at least 60 percent disabling. The Veteran also qualifies for SMC under the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) due to his single total disability rating.
The deciding factor: The evidence established that the Veteran's lumbosacral strain precluded him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation, meeting the criteria for a TDIU. Additionally, he has an additional service-connected disability rated at least 60 percent disabling (depressive disorder), qualifying him for SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain, obstructive sleep apnea, left ankle injury, traumatic arthritis of the right great toe, scalp scar, right leg neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- December 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20081508
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 service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain, finding that the Veteran's low back injury occurred during a period of active duty for training (ADT) and continued therefrom.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea due to a duty to assist error.
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