The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected lumbar disc disease process disability alone from March 30, 2020, and special monthly compensation (SMC) under 38 U.S.C. § 1114 (s) based on housebound status from July 11, 2022.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service-connected lumbar disc disease process disability alone is found to preclude him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation, and the combined rating of his disabilities meets the criteria for SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114 (s) based on housebound status.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar disc disease process, Depressive disorder associated with right lower radiculopathy with drop foot, sciatic nerve, Tinnitus, Painful scar, associated with lumbar laminectomy, Scar associated with lumbar laminectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- June 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25055639
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus due to a lack of jurisdiction.
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