The Board dismissed the issues of entitlement to a rating in excess of 40 percent for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and an effective date earlier than May 8, 2014, for the assignment of a 40 percent rating for lumbar spine DDD.
The deciding factor: The November 2021 rating decision was deemed purely ministerial in nature as it implemented the Board's previous decision without rendering any new findings on the issues already determined by the Board.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD), actinic keratosis (AK) of the forearms and hands
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2025
- Citation
- A25034496
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee strain, left hip strain, right hip arthritis, and lumbar spine degenerative disc disease as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected chronic iliotibial band syndrome of the left knee. The appeal was denied for service connection for right ear hearing loss.
- Dismissed
The appeal for earlier effective dates and initial ratings for service-connected conditions was withdrawn by the Veteran, thus these claims are dismissed.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial rating in excess of 20 percent prior to March 18, 2024, for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease (DDD) as the evidence did not support a higher rating.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 40 percent for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, as well as service connection for radiculopathy in both lower extremities and direct service connection for sinusitis.
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