The Board denied an effective date prior to November 4, 2009, for the grant of service connection for a back disability and granted service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy. The claims for initial ratings, secondary service connection, and TDIU were remanded.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no clear evidence to rebut the presumption of regularity regarding the May 1978 notification letter, which omitted the Veteran's street number but was otherwise properly mailed, and thus the February 1978 rating decision became final. The right lower extremity radiculopathy was granted as secondary to the service-connected back disability.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine spondylosis, T12 compression fracture, T11-T12 degenerative joint disease associated with left paracentral disc protrusion (back disability), right lower extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25098446
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 A25098446.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals were dismissed due to the death of the appellant. The issues related to service connection for various conditions and disability ratings.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy and denied the claims for right knee disability, erectile dysfunction, GERD, sleep apnea, and hypertension. The decision is remanded for further action on these issues.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection for middle and index trigger finger/stenosing tenosynovitis of the right hand, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy. The earliest effective date is June 30, 2012, for the right hand condition and April 22, 2016, for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.
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