The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for his service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease, right lower extremity sciatica pain, and left lower extremity sciatica pain. The appeal was not granted as the Veteran did not continuously pursue his claim within one year of the April 2019 decision.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims were denied because he did not continuously pursue his original claim for service connection for these conditions within one year of the April 2019 rating decision, which became final.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease (DDD) and degenerative arthritis, right lower extremity sciatica pain, left lower extremity sciatica pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 23, 2024
- Citation
- A24027123
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 A24027123.
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
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied earlier effective dates for service connection due to the lack of a valid claim prior to February 23, 2021.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left shoulder and lumbar disabilities, as well as secondary service connection for right and left lower extremity sciatica pain. The Veteran's current diagnoses are considered to be at least in equipoise with the opinions against his claims, leading to a grant of service connection.
- Granted
A separate, 30 percent rating for the side effects of medications used to treat lumbosacral strain with DDD and degenerative arthritis is granted. The initial rating for chondromalacia of the right knee remains remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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