Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2021

The Board has remanded the claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates for various service-connected disabilities, including arthritis of the lumbar spine, cervical spine disability, depressive disorder, bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy. The case is also being remanded to consider an earlier effective date for TDIU.

The Board has dismissed the appeal for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD, other than MDD/unspecified depressive disorder. The appeals for higher ratings for lumbar strain with degenerative lumbar disc disease, radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremity, and bronchitis and sleep apnea have also been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.

The Veteran's chronic mechanical lumbar spine syndrome with left lower extremity radiculopathy is granted as service connected. The issues of service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and erectile dysfunction are remanded.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and initial rating of his left lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as his TDIU claim based on his thoracolumbar spine disability, are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining private medical records and scheduling VA examinations to address the Veteran's claims. The effective date of a 10 percent rating for scars associated with cystic acne face and neck is granted.

The Veteran's right and left lower extremity radiculopathy have been granted initial ratings of 20 percent each, effective from May 28, 2014. The left lower extremity radiculopathy was also granted a higher rating of 20 percent from November 16, 2018 to December 15, 2019. However, the Veteran's request for a higher rating for his left lower extremity radiculopathy before and after this period is denied.

The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims of entitlement to increased disability ratings for left and right lower extremity lumbar radiculopathy, as well as his claim for service connection for a right hip disorder due to the Veteran opting into the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) review system.

The Veteran's claims for higher initial disability ratings for his lumbar spine and sciatic nerve disabilities were denied. The VA found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection due to exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune, radiation, or Gulf War Syndrome.

The Veteran's cervical spine disability, including right and left upper extremity radiculopathy, is granted as secondary to his service-connected cervical degenerative disc disease.,Service connection for right lower and left lower extremity lumbar radiculopathy (previously characterized as muscle pain) is also granted.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome and sciatica due to incomplete records of her Reserve service.

The Board has remanded the case for further development to determine if the Veteran has current disabilities of RLE radiculopathy/neuropathy and BUE peripheral neuropathy, and whether these conditions are related to his service-connected back disability or in-service exposure to herbicide agents.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection were denied, with effective dates set at August 9, 2016.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's neurologic disability of the bilateral lower extremities, including sciatica, is related to her service-connected lumbosacral strain.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including other trauma and stressor related disorder, lumbar intervertebral disc syndrome, degenerative disc disease, degenerative arthritis, lumbosacral strain, right lower extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy, tinnitus, bilateral pes planus, bilateral hearing loss, dermatitis of the neck, and erectile dysfunction, have rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment since September 17, 2016. The Veteran's combined service-connected rating was 80 percent at that time. Basic eligibility for Dependents' Educational Assistance under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 35 is established as of September 17, 2016.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for left L4 radiculopathy, herniated nucleus pulposus L4-5, and desiccation and degeneration L4 to S1, finding that these conditions had their onset during active service.

The Veteran's effective date for the increased rating of 40 percent assigned to his back disability and for the separate evaluations assigned to his bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy is set at November 16, 2017.

The Board denied higher ratings for the Veteran's cervical spine disability and associated radiculopathies, finding that the evidence did not support a rating higher than 20 percent for the cervical spine disability or any higher rating for LUE radiculopathy.

The Board has denied service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy and left knee disorder as the evidence does not show a current disability of either condition.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate October 2018 VA examination and requests for new evidence, including treatment records. The Veteran will be scheduled for a VA examination to determine current severity of his service-connected conditions.

The Board has remanded the claims for further development due to incomplete compliance with prior remand directives and need for new VA examinations.