The Veteran's claims for effective dates prior to November 30, 2015 for service connection for depression and radiculopathy of the lower extremities have been denied as these claims were not filed before that date.,The Veteran's claims for effective dates prior to November 30, 2015 for service connection for radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities have also been denied. The Board notes there was no objective medical evidence of radiculopathy or other neurological disorder of the lower extremities prior to this date.
The deciding factor: The effective dates for these claims are not earlier than November 30, 2015 as they were filed after that date.,There was no objective medical evidence of radiculopathy or other neurological disorder of the lower extremities prior to November 30, 2015.
- Claimed conditions
- depression, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, radiculopathy of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19132548
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (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 19132548.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Denied
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to July 1, 2016. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating due to occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity. For TDIU, the Veteran had multiple service-connected disabilities but his education and work experience were sufficient for sedentary or light labor employment.
- Granted
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to September 27, 2017. From September 27, 2017, the rating for depression increased to 70 percent.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals were dismissed due to the death of the appellant. The issues related to service connection for various conditions and disability ratings.
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