The Veteran's claim for service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy, secondary to his service-connected degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, is granted. An initial 20 percent rating for cervical degenerative disc disease is also granted from March 24, 1987. The effective dates for awarding service connection for right upper extremity radiculopathy and right lower extremity sciatica radiculopathy are remanded. Higher initial ratings for these conditions are also remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence is approximately evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran has current left lower extremity radiculopathy caused by his service-connected degenerative arthritis of the thoracolumbar spine, and an initial 20 percent rating for cervical degenerative disc disease is granted from March 24, 1987.
- Claimed conditions
- left lower extremity radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity sciatica radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 1, 2024
- Citation
- A24022443
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 A24022443.
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 a lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for cervical spine degenerative arthritis. The claims for back pain and right upper extremity radiculopathy are remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy and denied the claims for right knee disability, erectile dysfunction, GERD, sleep apnea, and hypertension. The decision is remanded for further action on these issues.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection for middle and index trigger finger/stenosing tenosynovitis of the right hand, left lower extremity radiculopathy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy. The earliest effective date is June 30, 2012, for the right hand condition and April 22, 2016, for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.
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