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Denied

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his thoracolumbar spine disability prior to March 6, 2013 and from that date have been denied. The VA has determined that the current ratings do not meet the criteria for higher ratings.

The deciding factor: The VA found that the Veteran’s thoracolumbar spine disability did not warrant a rating greater than 10 percent prior to March 6, 2013 and from that date, as his range of motion was within the limits specified in the applicable rating criteria.

Claimed conditions
mild degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the thoracolumbar spine, thoracolumbar herniated disc and sprain with IVDS
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 31, 2020
Citation
20081865

Veterans Law Judge

JACQUELINE E. MONROE

Decisions by this judge: 2,196 · Granted: 17% (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 20081865.

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

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