An effective date of July 18, 2008, but no earlier, for the award of service connection for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity is granted.,For the period prior to October 17, 2012, a rating in excess of 20 percent for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is denied. For the period from October 17, 2012, onward, a rating in excess of 40 percent for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is denied.,For the period prior to October 17, 2012, a rating in excess of 10 percent for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity is denied. For the period from October 17, 2012, onward, a rating in excess of 40 percent for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity is denied.,The petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for left shoulder disability is denied.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's July 18, 2008, claim raised claims of entitlement to service connection for peripheral neuropathies of the right and left lower extremities (as part of his express claim of service connection for a back disability). The RO determined that the right lower extremity radiculopathy was shown to have been present since at least as early as the July 18, 2008, date of claim.,The effective date for the grant of service connection may be as early as (but no earlier than) the July 18, 2008, date of claim. The Veteran's left lower extremity radiculopathy existed at least as early as the date of the claim for benefits filed on July 18, 2008.,The Veteran’s lower extremity impairments are rated under Diagnostic Code 8520 for paralysis of the sciatic nerve. The Board notes that Diagnostic Code 8520's rating criteria are identical to those for Diagnostic Code 8620 for neuritis of the sciatic nerve and Diagnostic Code 8720 for neuralgia of the sciatic nerve.,The Veteran’s petition to reopen his claim of entitlement to service connection for left shoulder disability was denied because all evidence submitted since April 2010 RO rating decision is either cumulative and redundant or does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.

Claimed conditions

radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, left shoulder disability

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

10%

Decision date

June 4, 2018

Citation

18107972

This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 18107972.