The Veteran's service connection for left upper radiculopathy is granted, effective May 1, 1997.
The deciding factor: The Veteran had documented left upper extremity radicular symptoms during active service and the condition was not contemplated when he was initially granted service connection for his cervical spine disc herniation in July 1997. The Board found that the correct effective date should be May 1, 1997.
- Claimed conditions
- left upper radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- A19002017
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19002017.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right upper radiculopathy and left upper radiculopathy, but denied service connection for right lower radiculopathy and left lower radiculopathy as secondary to a thoracolumbar spine condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected orthopedic disabilities necessitate the need for aid and assistance of another to care for herself or protect her from daily environment hazards.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and effective dates were denied. The Veteran was granted a higher rating for migraine headaches, but the other claims were either not granted or had their effective dates delayed.
- Partly granted
The Board reinstated the 50 percent disability rating for squamous cell carcinoma of the scalp with surgical scars, effective February 19, 2024. Service connection was also restored for lumbosacral strain and various radiculopathies.
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