Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2019

The Veteran's hypertension rating is dismissed. The lower back disability rating is restored to 40 percent, effective June 17, 2016. Other ratings are denied.

The Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disability is considered a contributory cause of his death.

The Board is remanding the Veteran's claims for additional development, including obtaining Social Security Administration records and reviewing VA treatment records.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, tension headaches, cervical spine IVDS with DDD, LUE radiculopathy, RUE radiculopathy, and sleep disorder has been granted. The effective date of service connection is set at June 19, 2013. A rating of 50 percent for tension headaches is also granted.

The Veteran's right and left lower extremity radiculopathies (sciatic) associated with lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis of the spine, intervertebral disc syndrome have been rated at 20 percent each. The Board denied an increased rating for these conditions.

The Veteran's right lower extremity sciatica is granted an initial 40 percent evaluation, but no higher. The lumbosacral strain with osteoarthritis, thoracic spine remains rated at 20 percent.

The Veteran's claim for a 10 percent evaluation for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy from May 13, 2010 to August 21, 2017 was granted.,The Veteran's claims for evaluations in excess of 20 percent for service-connected lumbosacral strain prior to and after August 22, 2017 were denied.

The Veteran's application to reopen a claim for service connection for lumbar spine degenerative disc disease with radiculopathy was granted. The rating for chronic bronchitis remains at noncompensable (0%). Service connection for a sleep disorder other than apnea is remanded.,Effective dates prior to October 15, 2015 were denied for cervical strain, right knee arthritis with meniscal tear and patella chondromalacia, and tinnitus service connection claims.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is denied prior to August 3, 2016 and remanded for further evaluation of his TDIU claim from August 3, 2016 to August 16, 2018.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased evaluations for PTSD, lumbar spine disabilities, and left sciatic nerve disability due to additional development being necessary.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and initial ratings for various service-connected disabilities are being remanded due to inadequate VA examinations. The examinations did not review the claims file or recent treatment records, which may have affected their conclusions.

The Veteran received emergency medical treatment at Baylor Medical Center on August 19, 2013 due to severe leg pain and elevated blood pressure. The Board found that the nearest available appropriate level of care was at a non-VA medical center (Baylor Medical Center), and that there were no VA facilities feasibly available for immediate treatment. Therefore, payment is granted.

The Veteran's nerve damage, bilateral hearing loss, and TDIU claims were all denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not have a current disability related to service or Agent Orange exposure.

The Board has remanded several claims due to the need for further development and examination. The main issues are related to service connection, rating higher than 30 percent for bilateral pes planus, and psychiatric disability.

The Veteran's lumbar spine disability and related radiculopathy conditions are remanded for further evaluation due to the need for a new VA examination.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates were denied. Effective May 13, 2015, service connection was granted for left lower extremity radiculopathy and right lower extremity radiculopathy associated with the service-connected lumbar spine disability.,Service connection for DJD of the left hip was also granted on May 13, 2015. The Veteran's claim for earlier effective date for persistent depressive disorder with mixed features (claimed as PTSD) was granted but with a different effective date.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling a VA examination. The issues of entitlement to separate evaluations for left lower extremity radiculopathy, rating in excess of 10 percent for lumbar DDD and IVDS prior to January 11, 2017, rating in excess of 20 percent from January 11, 2017 to October 17, 2017, and a rating in excess of 10 percent from October 18, 2017 and thereafter are remanded. The issue of entitlement to TDIU is also remanded.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for bilateral hearing loss, effective dates prior to July 9, 2012, for right and left lower extremity radiculopathy, and service connection for tinnitus. The remaining issues have been remanded for further evaluation.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to incomplete records and the need for additional examinations.

The Board has granted an effective date of August 19, 2010 for the grant of service connection for low back disability and radiculopathy of the left lower extremity (femoral nerve) and sciatic nerve. The Veteran's claim was denied in October 2010 but reconsidered due to newly received service medical records.