Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2024

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient evidence regarding whether his lumbar condition is a congenital defect or if it was aggravated by military service. The VA examiner will need to provide opinions on these matters.

The Veteran's low back disability, right and left lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities are related to service. The Board has granted service connection for these conditions. The right and left knee disabilities remain in dispute and the case is remanded. A temporary total rating due to treatment of a service-connected condition requiring convalescence is also remanded.

The Board has granted effective dates of October 30, 2015, for service connection and ratings of 20 percent each for right lower extremity (RLE) radiculopathy and left lower extremity (LLE) radiculopathy.

The Board has dismissed all claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates related to the Veteran's left knee disability, lumbar syndrome, LUE radiculopathy, and LLE radiculopathy due to improper docketing as AMA appeals.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity and right lumbosacral radiculopathy at L5-S1 associated with intervertebral disc disease were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating than 20 percent for the left lower extremity condition or 10 percent for the right lumbosacral radiculopathy.

The Veteran's claims for service connection were continuously appealed in the Legacy system since 2015, but he did not properly opt-in his concurrent Legacy appeal to the AMA system. As a result, he cannot utilize the effective date from the Legacy appeal stream.,The Board finds that AMA regulations do not permit the Veteran to utilize the September 2015 application date from the concurrent Legacy appeal stream.

The Board has granted service connection for a lumbar spine disability and an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding that these conditions are at least as likely as not related to service.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy and right upper extremity radiculopathy were denied as his conditions are currently rated appropriately at the 10% and 20% levels, respectively.

The Board has dismissed all claims of service connection for various conditions due to the Veteran's request for withdrawal of his appeal.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, finding that there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.

The Veteran's radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities, femoral and sciatic nerves, is granted with a disability rating of 20 percent effective October 27, 2021. Other service connection claims are remanded.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment from December 2019 to March 5, 2020. As of March 5, 2020, the Veteran received a combined total rating of 100%, making the TDIU issue moot.

The Veteran's erectile dysfunction claim is denied as there is no indication of penis deformity.,The Veteran's TBI and headaches claims are remanded due to inadequate examination reports. The AOJ must obtain a new VA examination for these issues.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative disc disease other than IVDS, left lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy, and right lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy were granted effective June 24, 2019.,Effective June 23, 2020, the Veteran was assigned a 20% rating for his service-connected bilateral lower extremity sciatic nerve peripheral neuropathy with radiculopathy.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea has been granted, with the restoration of disability ratings for GERD, lumbar spine disability, and left lower extremity radiculopathy from March 22, 2019. The Veteran's PTSD rating remains at 70%.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection have been remanded due to the need for additional evidence in some cases.,The Veteran's depression is rated at 50 percent, but not higher.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for degenerative disc disease other than IVDS, left lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy, and right lower extremity femoral nerve radiculopathy were granted effective June 24, 2019.,Effective June 23, 2020, the Veteran was assigned a 20% rating for his service-connected bilateral lower extremity sciatic nerve peripheral neuropathy with radiculopathy.

The Veteran's claims for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities have been granted. The appeal is dismissed as these issues are no longer in dispute.,Right ear hearing loss was denied due to lack of audiometric findings meeting VA criteria.

The Veteran's LLE peripheral neuropathy of the sciatic nerve is granted with a 40 percent rating from December 22, 2014 to May 4, 2022. Other conditions are also rated and remanded for further review.

The Veteran's right and left lower extremity radiculopathy were granted service connection with effective dates of March 27, 2007 and December 18, 2009 respectively.