The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral sciatic nerve disabilities due to inadequate examination and incomplete consideration of all evidence. The Veteran is currently entitled to service connection for unspecified depressive disorder, tinnitus, and left ear hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations and opinions were found to be inadequate as they did not consider the totality of the evidence, including lay reports of in-service onset and relevant medical records.
- Claimed conditions
- left lower extremity sciatic nerve disability, right lower extremity sciatic nerve disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 26, 2023
- Citation
- 23024088
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 23024088.
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 Veteran withdrew all pending appeals, including those for increased ratings and service connection claims. The appeal is dismissed as a result.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right lower extremity sciatic nerve disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected back disability, but denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome, restless leg syndrome of both legs, and dermatosis of the legs.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for sleep apnea, a back disability, bilateral upper and lower extremity nerve disabilities, chronic fatigue syndrome, and GERD as there was no evidence of a current disability or a nexus to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and dismissed the claims for an earlier effective date and a left lower extremity sciatic nerve disability.
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