The Board has remanded the case for a new VA examination to assess the Veteran's back disability, as the January 2023 VA examination was inadequate. The Veteran is currently in receipt of increased ratings for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic and femoral nerves.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the January 2023 VA examination did not substantially comply with the remand order, as it did not provide range of motion measurements under weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve, Bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy of the femoral nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2024
- Citation
- 24032049
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 931 · Granted: 42% (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 24032049.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied a rating in excess of 40 percent for the Veteran's low back disability and granted initial 20 percent ratings for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy of both the sciatic and femoral nerves.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma as secondary to actinic keratosis, which is a progression of the Veteran's service-connected dermatitis. The effective date for the grant of service connection for painful scars of the face was denied earlier than October 20, 2022.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for a back condition, as there is insufficient evidence to determine if his current lower back condition was caused or aggravated by his service-connected right knee disability. The case will be returned for further examination and opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a rating in excess of 20 percent prior to June 16, 2014, and in excess of 40 percent thereafter for degenerative disc disease (DDD) with lumbosacral strain, to include intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), as well as his claim for a separate compensable rating for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve. The Veteran's entitlement to a TDIU has also been raised and is being remanded.
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