The Board remands the claims for a VA examination to comply with the requirements of Correia v. McDonald, 28 Vet. App. 158 (2016), and to provide clear evaluation of both the sciatic and femoral nerves.
The deciding factor: The May 2021 examiner did not provide range of motion testing results for weight-bearing and did not address pain reported in weight-bearing and in rest/non-movement as required by Correia, and there was a consolidation of the sciatic and femoral nerve evaluations without notation as to whether there was paralysis.
- Claimed conditions
- left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), degenerative arthritis of the spine with thoracolumbar spine degenerative arthritis with degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis, right lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve), left lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2024
- Citation
- A24070214
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 granted a separate 10 percent rating for right lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve) effective from August 14, 2013, but denied higher initial ratings for the sciatic nerve.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for dermatochalasis, meibomian gland dysfunction, and blepharitis. The claims for lumbosacral strain, left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), right shoulder tendinopathy, diabetes, and prostate cancer with urinary incontinence status-post prostatectomy were remanded.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an increased initial rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), finding that his symptoms were no worse than mild incomplete paralysis.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for initial compensable ratings and TDIU, but readjudicated a previously denied service connection claim for ischemic heart disease.
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