Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2017

The Veteran's attorney withdrew the appeal for service connection claims related to low back disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.

The Veteran's IVDS of the cervical spine with degenerative changes warrants a 60% rating, effective from May 1, 2014. His radiculopathy of the right upper extremity and left upper extremity do not warrant increased ratings. The Veteran is currently receiving the maximum schedular rating for his service-connected right sided tinnitus.

The Board granted a 40 percent disability rating for right cervical sensorimotor radiculopathy and found that the Veteran's erectile dysfunction is secondary to his service-connected PTSD.

The Veteran's service-connected radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, including hip pain, has been evaluated as mild incomplete paralysis and no higher rating is warranted.

The Veteran's current cervical spine disability, including as secondary to the service-connected right shoulder disability, is found to be related to active service and granted.

The Board has determined that service connection is warranted for cold injury to the bilateral feet, including neuropathy of the feet. Service connection was denied for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating or service connection for any of the conditions listed.

The Board finds that the Veteran does not have current diagnoses of a neck disability or bilateral leg disability other than his service-connected sciatic nerve radiculopathy. The Veteran's unspecified gastritis is rated at 10 percent, and his low back disability is currently rated at 60 percent. No increased rating is granted.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an extension of her delimiting date for educational assistance benefits due to a lack of evidence showing she applied for and was granted such an extension.

The Board has determined that a 20 percent rating is warranted for the service-connected lumbar spine disability prior to January 19, 2017.

The Veteran's low back strain is found to be related to service, and he is granted direct service connection.,His left and right lower extremity radiculopathy are found to be caused by his service-connected lumbar spine disorder, and he is granted secondary service connection.,There is no evidence of residuals of a groin strain, and the Veteran's claim for this condition is denied.

The Veteran's right lower extremity radiculopathy has been manifested by subjective complaints of pain, numbness, and tingling with objective evidence of slightly decreased muscle strength and reflexes that is transient in nature. There is no objective evidence of decreased sensation or resulting functional impairment.

The Veteran's right lower extremity radiculopathy has been rated at 20 percent since April 18, 2014. The July 2016 VA examination found the condition to be characterized by moderate symptoms of constant pain and numbness, with no muscle atrophy or trophic changes.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected lumbar strain, bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, and biceps femoris strain were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support an increase in any of these ratings.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine disability and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the current level of disability.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the current severity of his back disability and an assessment of whether he qualifies for TDIU.

The Board denied entitlement to an extraschedular evaluation for the Veteran's service-connected bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy and on a collective basis.

The Veteran's arthrolumbosacral strain and associated bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy have been rated, with an increased rating of 40 percent granted for the thoracolumbar spine disability. Separate ratings of 20 percent each were granted for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy. The Veteran's TDIU claim was also granted.

The Board found that the reduction from a 60 percent disability rating to a 40 percent disability rating for degenerative disc disease, multilevel, anterolisthesis and disc bulge with central narrowing was improper due to lack of improvement in the Veteran's condition.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right knee disability, finding that there is no evidence to support a finding of in-service injury or disease. The claim was also denied for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for intervertebral disc syndrome and related sciatic nerve radiculopathy issues.