The Veteran's DDD of the lumbosacral spine is now rated at 40 percent effective December 22, 2010.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran's functional loss due to pain and weakness resulted in flexion limited to 30 degrees or less, meeting the criteria for a 40% rating under the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) of the lumbosacral spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- March 4, 2024
- Citation
- 24010346
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 24010346.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board vacated part of its decision denying a rating in excess of 10 percent for service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine, and remanded it due to a lack of contemporaneous examination. The claim is now pending again.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was awarded a 10% rating for DDD of the lumbosacral spine effective August 16, 2018. However, he did not receive proper notice of a scheduled VA examination in June 2000 and his service connection claim is still pending.
- Granted
The Veteran's DDD of the lumbosacral spine is granted a higher evaluation to 40 percent. The evaluations for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy remain at 10 percent.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his DDD of the lumbosacral spine was denied. For the period prior to October 1, 2021, he received a 20% rating and for the period beginning October 1, 2021, he received a 40% rating.
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