Radiculopathy & sciatica decisions — 2025

The Board granted service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death, finding that his service-connected disabilities caused and/or materially contributed to his COPD, which was listed as the immediate cause of death.

The Board granted service connection for right hand little finger healed fracture and bilateral foot pes planus, while denying service connection for various other conditions including sinusitis, headaches, and sciatica. The Board also granted a 10 percent rating for asthma.

The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection and increased rating, but granted restoration of a 40 percent rating for back disability.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral upper extremity radiculopathy as secondary to cervical spine strain due to a lack of evidence supporting a current diagnosis.

The Board granted a 40 percent initial disability rating for lumbar disability, denied an increased rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy and earlier effective date for right lower extremity radiculopathy, and denied an increased rating for left foot disorder.

The Board granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative disease, cervical strain, left upper extremity radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy, and migraine and occipital headaches. Service connection was denied for bilateral pes planus, papillary thyroid carcinoma, status post partial left thyroidectomy, and left foot hallux valgus.

The Board denied service connection for cervical strain with degenerative arthritis, left upper extremity cervical radiculopathy, and migraine headaches as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or caused by active service.

The Board denied an increased rating for tinnitus and dismissed the appeals related to the proposed reductions in ratings for degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, right shoulder bicipital tendonitis and rotator cuff tendonitis, and cervical spine.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a gynecological disorder (oligomenorrhea), and persistent depressive disorder with unspecified anxiety disorder. However, the Board granted service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy of sciatic nerve.

The Veteran's lumbosacral strain with IVDS was granted a 40 percent disability rating, and service connection for right and left lower extremity radiculopathies associated with the condition was also granted.

The veteran's appeal request was denied as it was not timely filed, and no good cause was shown to extend the filing period.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal seeking readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for low back strain with herniated disk, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, and radiculopathy of the right lower extremity.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for special monthly compensation (SMC) as she did not meet the criteria for SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).

The Board dismissed the appeal for accrued benefits related to increased ratings for various conditions, as the July 2024 rating decision was a purely ministerial implementation of the June 2024 Board decision and not appealable.

The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for higher initial disability ratings for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, finding that the evidence did not support a rating in excess of 20 percent for the left leg or 10 percent for the right leg.

The Board remands the claims for further development as the prior remand directives were not substantially complied with.

The Board granted increased ratings for the Veteran's right and left sciatic nerve radiculopathy, effective May 31, 2018, and awarded a total disability based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) effective July 30, 2012.

The Veteran is granted special monthly compensation (SMC) at the rate specified in 38 U.S.C. � 1114(l) and (o) based on the need for regular aid and attendance due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board granted an initial rating of 30 percent for the Veteran's cervical spine disability and a 30 percent rating for radiculopathy of the left upper extremity effective February 25, 2019.

The claims for service connection and a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) are remanded due to the failure of the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) to ensure delivery of the November 2022 supplemental statement of the case to the Appellant.