Radiculopathy & sciatica Board decisions

The Board found no evidence of in-service injury or disease that led to the Veteran's current knee, back, and headache conditions. The diagnoses were not incurred during service.

The Veteran's appeal involves multiple issues related to his service-connected degenerative joint disease of the thoracic and lumbar spine, including radiculopathy. The Board has remanded for additional development regarding the timing and severity of neurological manifestations.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected lumbar spine degenerative disc disease and spondylosis, Osgood-Schlatter's disease and osteoarthritis, left knee, and incomplete paralysis of the sciatic nerve, left lower extremity radiculopathy are being remanded to obtain additional medical examinations and opinions.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, right shoulder injury (claimed as bilateral shoulder injury/pain), left shoulder injury (claimed as bilateral shoulder injury/pain), right leg injury (claimed as bilateral leg injury/pain), and left leg injury (claimed as bilateral leg injury/pain). The Veteran has not appealed these decisions.

The Veteran's TDIU claim is being remanded for a combined effects medical opinion that takes into account the current severity of all his service-connected disabilities, including his gastric disability and back disability.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional development, including obtaining relevant medical records and scheduling a VA examination.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain a new VA examination and additional medical records, as well as to address the TDIU claim in conjunction with the increased rating claim.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current low back and cervical spine conditions are not related to service, but his bilateral hearing loss is presumed due to in-service noise exposure. The Veteran also meets the criteria for a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease.,Service connection is granted for ischemic heart disease.

The Board has determined that the effective dates for the grants of service connection for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities are September 24, 2009.

The Veteran's service-connected back disability and radiculopathy have been granted increased ratings, effective October 6, 2015. A TDIU rating has also been granted, effective November 4, 2014.,The Veteran's right and left lower extremity radiculopathy have been rated at 40 percent each.

The Veteran is granted a TDIU on an extraschedular basis for the period prior to August 11, 2015 due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing and following substantially gainful employment. The temporary total evaluation based on a service-connected disability requiring a period of convalescence (total temporary evaluation) is denied as there is no service connection for a cervical spine condition.

The Veteran's service-connected radiculopathy of the lower extremities has been rated at 100% since September 11, 2015. The Board finds that his unemployability due to these disabilities is effective from April 3, 2010.

The Board has granted a 40 percent disability rating for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability, effective from October 18, 2011. The Veteran also received a separate 40 percent disability rating for right lower extremity radiculopathy, effective since October 3, 2007.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development of the record.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for PTSD and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, as well as his claim for service connection for radiculopathy of the lower extremities, were denied. The Board found that there was no evidence to support higher ratings or service connection.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including a new VA examination to address the Veteran's claims of cervical spondylosis and upper extremity radiculopathy.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn, and thus the case is dismissed.

The Veteran's service-connected conditions have been evaluated based on their direct effects and not through any presumptive or secondary theories. The initial evaluations for the ankle disabilities, lumbar strain with intervertebral disc syndrome, left leg sciatica, patella femoral syndromes, and costochondritis are denied.

The Veteran's combined total rating was correctly calculated as 80 percent prior to March 11, 2016.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's low back disability is related to his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants entitlement to service connection for this condition.,The Board also granted entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity sciatica as secondary to the now service-connected low back disability. However, the claim for Achilles pain (right leg) was denied.