The Veteran's radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is granted a 10% rating. The claim for service connection for major depressive disorder and right foot disability are reopened, but service connection itself remains denied. A VA examination is needed to assess the current severity of the Veteran’s back disability and related radiculopathy.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's radiculopathy was found to be at least as likely as not caused by her service-connected low back disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Radiculopathy, Right Lower Extremity, Acquired Psychiatric Disability (Major Depressive Disorder), Right Foot Condition (Hallux Valgus and Bone Spurs)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- March 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19115796
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,217 · Granted: 46% (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 19115796.
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 Veteran's claim for PTSD was granted, and his claims for increased ratings of degenerative arthritis of the spine with spinal stenosis, radiculopathy left lower extremity, and radiculopathy right lower extremity were also granted. The effective dates are not specified as they are based on when the claims were filed or denied.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD, finding that the Veteran's symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, granted a 20 percent disability rating for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities, and remanded several other claims including those for increased ratings for various disabilities and TDIU.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to his service-connected disabilities, finding that he is not unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment.
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