The Board has granted a total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities, finding that the Veteran's service-connected conditions have rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment.
The deciding factor: The evidence demonstrated that the Veteran's service-connected ankle and lower back disabilities precluded him from obtaining and retaining substantially gainful employment based on his education, training, and experience.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar and lumbosacral spine degenerative joint disease and degenerative disc disease, right ankle fracture residuals, left leg sciatica, right leg sciatica (from December 10, 2014), right knee arthralgia, lumbar spine or back surgery scar
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- January 11, 2022
- Citation
- 22001464
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (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 22001464.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for special monthly compensation based on housebound status as he does not have a single disability rated at 100% and his disabilities are not so severe that they render him substantially confined to his residence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence related to the Veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been received since the May 2023 rating decision. The claims of increased ratings for cervical spine strain, right shoulder arthralgia, right knee arthralgia based on limitation of flexion, left knee arthralgia based on limitation of flexion, and entitlement to a 40 percent rating, but no higher, for right knee arthralgia based on limitation of extension from October 28, 2024 to February 25, 2025 are remanded.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left and right knee arthralgia, degenerative arthritis, and genu varus deformity as there is no evidence that these conditions manifested within a year of discharge or were otherwise incurred in service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of left leg sciatica, and thus service connection for this condition is denied. The issues of service connection for degenerative cervical disease (neck disability), right upper extremity cervical radiculopathy as secondary to neck disability, lumbar spine L4/5 degenerative disc disease (back disability), and sinusitis are remanded due to the need for additional development.
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