The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD and back arthritis, have rendered her unable to maintain substantially gainful employment due to their impact on her ability to work as a behavioral and mental health therapist.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (PTSD) and lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis have made it impossible for her to perform the physical and mental acts required by employment, particularly in settings that require participation and feedback from others.
- Claimed conditions
- adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood (previously diagnosed as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 80%
- Decision date
- August 12, 2024
- Citation
- A24045710
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 A24045710.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate VA examinations and a pre-decisional duty to assist error. Additional development is needed for service connection of carpal tunnel syndrome, increased ratings for lower extremity radiculopathies, and obtaining a VA TERA opinion.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions were granted effective from July 1, 2020.
- Denied
The Board found the evidence persuasive against finding that the Veteran's lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis is proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by his service-connected duodenal ulcer, pancreatitis, and cervical spondylosis with IVDS, degenerative disc disease, and stenosis. Therefore, the claim for service connection was denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's lumbosacral strain with IVDS and associated radiculopathies of the left and right lower extremities are granted at a 40 percent rating prior to December 27, 2023, and denied for ratings in excess of this level from that date.
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