Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2025

The Board granted earlier effective dates for the left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, and left shoulder scar, but denied an earlier effective date for the right shoulder scar and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including back condition, lower extremity radiculopathy, left knee condition, and foot conditions, preclude him from securing and maintaining all forms of substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including lumbosacral strain and right lower extremity radiculopathy, sciatic nerve, have precluded him from being able to maintain substantially gainful employment.

The Board granted an effective date of November 19, 2019, for the grant of service connection for degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine with degenerative arthritis and left lower extremity radiculopathies but denied earlier effective dates for other conditions.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right lower extremity lumbar radiculopathy to obtain additional medical opinions.

The Board granted an effective date of July 25, 2016, for the grant of service connection and ratings for PTSD, lumbosacral strain, degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, intervertebral disc syndrome, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy.

The Board granted an earlier effective date of July 18, 2023, for the award of a 100 percent rating for liver cancer and SMC housebound.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for a low back condition and right lower extremity radiculopathy as new VA examinations are needed to determine their nature and etiology.

The appeal was dismissed due to the Veteran's death during the pendency of the appeal.

The Board remands the claims for increased ratings and TDIU due to an inadequate statement of reasons or bases in its previous decision.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation (SMC) based on loss of use due to several lower extremity disabilities, as no effective function remains other than that which would be equally well served by an amputation stump with a prosthesis.

The Board granted a 70 percent disability rating for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder from May 1, 2019 to August 31, 2021; denied an increased rating in excess of 70 percent thereafter. The Board also granted 20 percent ratings for femoral nerve radiculopathy, left lower extremity, right lower extremity, left club foot with pes planus and plantar fasciitis, right club foot with pes planus and plantar fasciitis, sciatic nerve radiculopathy, left lower extremity, and right lower extremity from May 1, 2019 to February 4, 2022; denied an increased rating in excess of 20 percent thereafter.

The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for right upper and left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, as well as denied the remaining claims including fibromyalgia, erectile dysfunction, GERD, urinary frequency/incontinence, and radiculopathy.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for degenerative disc disease with intervertebral disc syndrome and spinal stenosis, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy to obtain an expert opinion from an orthopedist.

The Board remands the claims for further development to obtain a VA examination and medical opinion that reconciles the October 2019 private medical report and the March 2020 VA examination report.

The Board denied a rating in excess of 40 percent for stroke residuals of right leg weakness involving the posterior tibial, external popliteal, musculocutaneous, anterior tibial, internal popliteal, and sciatic nerves but granted separate noncompensable ratings for stroke residuals of right leg weakness involving the obturator nerve, external cutaneous nerve of the thigh, and ilio-inguinal nerve as of June 11, 2021.

The Board remands the claims for further development, including verification of service records and obtaining additional medical opinions.

The Board denied an increased rating for PTSD, granted a TDIU from December 3, 2020, and denied service connection for various conditions.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and an effective date of April 11, 2023, but no earlier, for the grant of service connection for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, femoral nerve. The Board denied a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, femoral nerve.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for service connection and a higher rating, finding no evidence that the conditions arose prior to October 26, 2022.