The Veteran's thoracolumbar spine disability is rated at 20 percent, but no higher. The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for left and right lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy, bowel incontinence, and bladder incontinence due to duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: The effective date claims are remanded as there is a duty-to-assist error related to when the Veteran's bilateral lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy initially manifested and whether her bowel and bladder incontinence are proximately due or aggravated by her thoracolumbar spine disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Arthritis of the Thoracolumbar Spine with IVDS, Bowel Incontinence, Bladder Incontinence
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2024
- Citation
- A24066107
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation A24066107.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted earlier effective dates of April 1, 2016 for SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance, loss of use of both feet, and under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(o) and (r)(1).,These awards are in full grant of the benefit sought as the Veteran's attorney explicitly requested an effective date in April 2016.
- Denied
The Veteran's prostate cancer with voiding dysfunction is rated at 20 percent, and a separate 10 percent rating for bowel incontinence is granted. The Veteran's prostate cancer symptoms do not warrant an increased rating, but his bowel incontinence is found to be consistent with the criteria for a 10 percent rating.
- Granted
The Veteran is found to be eligible for enrollment in the PCAFC program due to his severe and complex medical conditions, which require personal care services.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's bowel incontinence was granted a 30% rating from May 11, 2016 to February 22, 2017.,A higher than 30% rating for bowel incontinence is denied from February 22, 2017 to April 6, 2021.
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