The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral degenerative arthritis and strain based on the Veteran's continuous symptoms since separation from service.
The deciding factor: The Board found the Veteran's lay testimony credible and consistent with other evidence, supporting a direct link to service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral degenerative arthritis, strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 31, 2025
- Citation
- A25029443
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,341 · Granted: 33% (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 A25029443.
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 Veteran's claim for a temporary total rating based on hospitalization or convalescence due to his service-connected cervical spine disability is remanded as the record does not include post-surgical follow-up treatment records from the University of Virginia Hospital.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for increased disability ratings for PTSD, TDIU and DEA benefits was denied. The Veteran is currently rated at 70 percent for PTSD with TBI.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's request to restore a higher rating for his left shoulder acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis, strain and rotator cuff tendonitis from 30% back to 20%, finding that the evidence did not show severity of symptoms resulting in limitation of flexion of the left arm to midway between the side and shoulder level.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability due to a grant in October 2025. The back condition claim is granted with a 30% evaluation effective September 22, 2016.
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