The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered her so helpless as to require the aid and attendance of another person, thus granting special monthly compensation (SMC) based on aid and attendance.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran required regular assistance in preparing meals, dressing, showering, and maintaining hygiene due to her service-connected back and hip conditions and resulting muscle weakness and poor balance.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine disc disease and herniation, Left foot ganglion s/p bunionectomy, Left hip osteoarthritis, Scars, left hip extension and left hip limited abduction, Right and left lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25085335
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 857 · Granted: 35% (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 A25085335.
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 service-connected right and left lower extremity radiculopathy is currently rated at 20 percent, which is the maximum schedular rating available for incomplete paralysis of the sciatic nerve. The Board denied an increased evaluation as there was no evidence to support a higher rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased disability evaluations for his right hip osteoarthritis, left hip osteoarthritis, and right knee osteoarthritis with shin splints.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability and remanded claims for cervical strain, left hip osteoarthritis, right hip osteoarthritis, right knee strain, and obstructive sleep apnea due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral cataracts, restrictive lung disease/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), right knee osteoarthritis, left knee osteoarthritis, right hip osteoarthritis, left hip osteoarthritis, and low back pain/back osteoarthritis. The claim for a compensable initial disability rating for hypertension was denied.
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