The Board denied a higher rating for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability and granted TDIU from February 21, 2018.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show that the Veteran would meet additional criteria for a higher rating absent the ameliorative effects of medication. The Veteran was found to be unable to obtain or sustain substantially gainful employment due to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 27, 2025
- Citation
- 25008521
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 828 · Granted: 42% (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 25008521.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has determined that new and relevant evidence has been received to warrant the readjudication of your claims for service connection for degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine, shin splints, and diabetes mellitus. Your tailbone condition is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection due to inadequate rationale in the March 2020 VA examination and failure to consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding his symptoms.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine is aggravated by his service-connected right hip disability, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU were denied. The right knee was rated at 10% prior to December 12, 2019, and at 20% from that date onwards. For the lumbar spine, a 40% rating was granted effective January 15, 2014, with TDIU also being granted.
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