The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine, mental health, and lower extremity disabilities have precluded him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation effective January 1, 2015, but no earlier. A rating in excess of 40 percent for the low back disability is not warranted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's lumbar spine symptoms do not more nearly approximate unfavorable ankylosis and his work environment does not meet the criteria for a protected work environment that would support a TDIU claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disability (degenerative arthritis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- December 17, 2025
- Citation
- 25015007
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 915 · Granted: 38% (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 25015007.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 20 percent for the Veteran's low back disability, as the evidence did not support a higher rating under the applicable criteria.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral flat feet, low back disability, left wrist disorder, and GERD. The Board also remanded claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder and TDIU.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for sarcoidosis of the lungs and skin but denied service connection for a low back disability.
- 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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