The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine, cervical degenerative disc disease and facet and uncinate arthrosis involving C5-C5 and C6-C7, and chronic post-traumatic headache have been dismissed as freestanding claims.,The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine, cervical degenerative disc disease, and chronic post-traumatic headache remain pending.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the Veteran's attempts to establish earlier effective dates were freestanding claims and dismissed them as such.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine, Cervical degenerative disc disease and facet and uncinate arthrosis involving C5-C5 and C6-C7, Chronic post-traumatic headache
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2022
- Citation
- 22000253
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,432 · 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 22000253.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for left ankle and lumbosacral spine disabilities were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings under applicable VA rating criteria.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at a 40 percent evaluation, effective from the date of the May 2013 rating decision.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for TDIU as his service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a retrospective medical opinion to assess the severity and manifestations of the Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral spine disability.
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