The Board granted service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, radiculopathy impacting both lower extremities on a secondary basis to the back disability, and right knee degenerative arthritis.
The deciding factor: Service connection was granted based on the probative evidence supporting an association between the Veteran's claimed conditions and his military service, including his MOS duties involving heavy lifting.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, Radiculopathy impacting the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy impacting the left lower extremity, Degenerative arthritis of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2025
- Citation
- A25096399
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,062 · Granted: 34% (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 A25096399.
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 Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy were denied. The Board found that no claim was received prior to July 15, 2021 and thus the proper effective date is July 15, 2021.,The Veteran also sought an earlier effective date for his left lower extremity radiculopathy, which was similarly denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is remanded due to concerns about the adequacy of a previous examination report, which did not include measurements using a goniometer.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the right knee is granted. The claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are denied, as well as the claim for service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a procedural error in failing to provide the Veteran with notice of a scheduled hearing. The Veteran must be provided with a hearing before the matter can be reconsidered.
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