The Veteran's low back disability was granted a 40 percent rating, and TDIU based on the low back disability process alone was also granted from September 19, 2008.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's low back disability warranted a 40 percent rating due to forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine limited to 30 degrees or less and the impact on his ability to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.
- Claimed conditions
- thoracolumbar spine degenerative joint and disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- October 21, 2025
- Citation
- 25013127
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 25013127.
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 Board has remanded the case due to outstanding SSA records that may be relevant to the Veteran's claim for service connection for his back condition.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment during the period from December 28, 2009 to September 30, 2011.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new examination and an addendum opinion addressing the impact of his service-connected disabilities on employment.
- 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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