Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2020

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including major depressive disorder and lumbar strain/myositis, prevent him from securing or following substantially gainful employment. The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether a grant of TDIU is warranted.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the relationship between his disabilities and service. The Veteran is not entitled to service connection for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities, acquired psychiatric disorder, left ankle disability, right knee disability, or lumbar spine disability.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including back disability, hypertension, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy related to his back disability, prevent him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment. The Board has granted the TDIU rating.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been granted, but the effective dates are set at September 21, 2011. The Board has also remanded several issues related to lower extremity and hip disabilities due to lack of proper medical examinations.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for peripheral vestibular disorder was granted with an effective date of August 21, 2014.,A higher rating in excess of 20 percent for left lower extremity radiculopathy is denied.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate development of evidence regarding whether the Veteran's current neurological disorder is aggravated by his service-connected MFW residuals. The VA needs to obtain a medical opinion on this issue.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right sciatic nerve impingement as secondary to his service-connected right hip disability, finding that the most probative evidence shows this condition is caused by his service-connected right hip disability.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an initial evaluation in excess of 20 percent for a lumbar spine disability and an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for right lower extremity radiculopathy, finding that the evidence did not meet the criteria for higher ratings based on limitation of motion or other manifestations.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the effective date earlier than October 15, 2013 for a separate compensable rating for sciatica of the right lower extremity and the matter of CUE in a January 14, 1983 rating decision.

The Board has determined that the VA examinations conducted in February 2020 are inadequate for assessing the Veteran's range of motion. Therefore, a new examination is required to determine if there is any structural abnormality and whether passive range of motion would be more limited than active.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for back injury, right leg injury, and sciatic nerve condition due to a lack of service treatment records. The Veteran is required to undergo a VA examination to determine if his current disabilities are related to in-service parachute jump training.

The Veteran's peripheral neuropathy of the sciatic nerve in both lower extremities is rated at 40 percent, but no higher. The evidence supports a finding that his symptoms are moderately severe.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's claims for increased ratings prior to August 1, 2017 for radiculopathy of the bilateral lower extremities and left hip degenerative joint disease as they were part of an already initiated legacy appeal.

The Veteran's service-connected PTSD, anterior spondylosis, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy have prevented him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation since September 21, 2017. His TDIU claim is granted.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for left knee, right knee, and low back disabilities. The low back disability is remanded due to incomplete VA examination.

The Veteran's diabetes mellitus was rated at 20 percent, effective July 23, 2019.,The Veteran's bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy and right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy were each rated at 20 percent, effective July 23, 2019. The left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy was rated at 10 percent prior to January 21, 2020, and at 20 percent thereafter.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's claimed conditions. Specifically, a VA examiner is needed to provide an opinion on whether there is a medical link between the Veteran’s current back condition and service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for right upper extremity radiculopathy, left upper extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy are being remanded. The Veteran's claim for COPD is also being remanded.,The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 40 percent from June 1, 2016 for prostate cancer remains pending.

The Board has remanded several issues related to various disabilities, including uterine fibroids, right knee disability, scars of the right knee and abdomen, lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, cervical spine disability, cervical radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, left breast scars, Kienbach's disease with arthritis of the right wrist, and Kienbach's disease with arthritis of the left wrist. The remand requires consideration of additional evidence and issuance of a supplemental statement of the case (SSOC).

The Veteran's claims of increased ratings and effective dates for service-connected conditions have been denied. The claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities has also been denied.