Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2013

The Board has remanded the case for further development of evidence, including determining precise dates of active duty training and inactive duty training. The appellant's claims for service connection remain pending.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for the review of additional evidence, including Social Security Administration (SSA) records. The TDIU claim is also being remanded due to its inextricability with his service connection claims.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbosacral spine disability, cervical spine disability, and L4-5 radiculopathy of the left lower extremity are being remanded due to the need for additional development.

The Veteran's degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine is rated at 60 percent effective October 26, 2012. His sciatica of both lower extremities is also rated at 100 percent effective that date.

The Veteran's lumbar spine disability is rated at 20 percent, and his neurological manifestations are rated at 10 percent. The appeal for higher ratings has been denied.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for right sciatic nerve compression is granted. The motion to revise the August 8, 1989 rating decision based on CUE is denied.

The Board has found no evidence to support a finding that the Veteran's current back disorders are related to his military service, and therefore denied the claim for service connection.

The Board has granted a separate 10 percent rating for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity. The issue of entitlement to a separate rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity is remanded due to incomplete consideration in the August 2011 VA examination report.

The Board found that the Veteran's current lumbar radiculopathy is not related to service and was not caused or aggravated by his service-connected right hip strain.

The Board found that the Veteran's erectile dysfunction and right lower extremity sciatica are not due to any incident or event in military service, nor is it caused or aggravated by his diabetes mellitus.,VA medical opinions were provided which supported the conclusion that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining additional VA and private treatment records, scheduling a VA examination to assess the severity of the Veteran's service-connected low back disability, and determining whether his service-connected disabilities prevent him from securing and following substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's claim for increased ratings and TDIU was granted, with a 10 percent evaluation assigned for radiculopathy of the right thigh. The other issues were denied.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for a bilateral foot disability and granted service connection for bronchitis. The claims of service connection for bronchiectasis, GERD, hypertension, bilateral eye disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, right hip disorder, erectile dysfunction, and radiculopathy of the right lower extremity are addressed in the REMAND portion.

The Veteran's appeals have been dismissed as he withdrew his appeal prior to the Board's decision.

The Board found that the Veteran's cervical discectomy with radiculopathy of the upper right extremity was not incurred in or aggravated by service, and denied his claim.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the failure to provide a Statement of the Case for issues related to his service-connected degenerative disk disease and radiculopathy. The Veteran disagrees with the current ratings assigned.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's left leg sciatica is at least as likely as not related to his military service, and therefore grants service connection for this condition.

The Veteran's left upper extremity radiculopathy has been rated at 30 percent since January 8, 2013. The disability is characterized by severe pain and mild organic changes along the C6 distribution, including decreased sensation down the arm and into the hand and fingers, intermittent weakness and decreased strength, and intermittent decreased or increased reflexes.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including consideration of VA treatment records from 2009 to 2012.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to June 10, 2003, for the grant of TDIU was denied as there is no evidence showing a factual increase in disability within one year prior to that date.