The Veteran's radiculopathy of the left lower extremity was granted service connection based on secondary to his lumbar spine disability. An effective date of November 6, 2003, but no earlier, is assigned.
The deciding factor: Service connection for radiculopathy of the LLE was established as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability due to a September 1998 private medical opinion linking the left leg symptoms to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) lumbar spine, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity (LLE)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- March 3, 2023
- Citation
- 23013038
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 23013038.
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 an initial disability rating of 20 percent for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity and left lower extremity, finding moderate incomplete paralysis of the sciatic nerves.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his back disability and radiculopathy of both lower extremities, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on current functional impairment or incapacitating episodes.
- Denied
The appeal for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent left peroneal nerve impairment and the propriety of separate ratings for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities were denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for increased ratings for left shoulder strain, DDD of the lumbar spine, radiculopathy of both lower extremities, and TDIU due to insufficient evidence regarding flare-ups and baseline severity.
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