The Veteran's radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities are currently rated as 10 percent disabling. The Board has determined that these conditions do not warrant a higher rating due to mild symptoms.,The Veteran’s service connection claims for sleep disturbances, fibromyalgia, shoulder disabilities, hearing loss, cervical spine strain, knee retropatellar pain syndrome, PTSD, major depression and alcohol abuse, and lumbosacral strain are remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not show that the Veteran's radiculopathy of the lower extremities is more than mild in nature.
- Claimed conditions
- radiculopathy of left lower extremity, radiculopathy of right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2018
- Citation
- 18146074
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 18146074.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeal of the issue regarding radiculopathy of left lower extremity. The Veteran's degenerative disc disease with spondylolisthesis, right shoulder impingement syndrome, and radiculopathy of the right lower extremity are all granted as secondary to service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted a 40 percent rating for lumbosacral strain and a 20 percent rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, effective January 29, 2024 to June 2, 2025.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, while denying increased ratings for bipolar I disorder and social anxiety disorder with cued panic attacks, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, and a compensable rating for cervicogenic headaches.
- Partly granted
The Board reinstated the 40 percent rating for degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine and radiculopathy of right lower extremity. It also granted a 40 percent rating for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity and effective dates of June 27, 2018, for TDIU and DEA.
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