The Board granted service connection for a cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, and radiculopathy of the left lower extremity based on evidence that these conditions are related to the Veteran's period of active duty from June 1978 to June 1982.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion supported the claims, while VA examiners' opinions were against them. However, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, service connection was granted for all three conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease, intervertebral disc syndrome, spinal stenosis with cervical radiculopathy, Degenerative disc disease, intervertebral disc syndrome, spinal stenosis, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- February 24, 2025
- Citation
- A25016233
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · Granted: 23% (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 A25016233.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal of the claims for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability and whether proposed reductions in ratings for service-connected intervertebral disc syndrome, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, and radiculopathy of the left lower extremities were proper. The appeals are dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for TDIU, finding that his service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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