The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation (SMC) due to his service-connected spine disability and associated radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities, effective September 27, 2013.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected spine disability and associated radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment, meeting the criteria for TDIU. Additionally, he meets the requirements for SMC at the housebound rate due to having a single 100% service-connected disability with additional disabilities rated at 60%.
- Claimed conditions
- Spine disability, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- February 13, 2025
- Citation
- 25002204
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (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 25002204.
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 Board denied extraschedular ratings for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to February 3, 2011.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's lumbosacral spine disability is rated at 20 percent, but the Board finds that it warrants a rating of 40 percent throughout the appeal period.,Service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to his service-connected lumbosacral spine disability is granted. The Veteran's claim for an initial rating will be remanded for further evaluation.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is currently rated at 70% effective from February 11, 2010.,Entitlement to an earlier effective date for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity was denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities cause the need for regular aid and attendance of another person, which is granted based on the evidence provided.
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