The Board remands the claims for increased ratings for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy due to a lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner failed to provide a full retrospective opinion that fully characterizes the severity of the Veteran's bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy from January 11, 2012, to the present.
- Claimed conditions
- Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 1, 2025
- Citation
- 25004378
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 service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include a mood disorder and alcohol abuse disorder, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities. The other claims for increased ratings were denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for higher staged ratings and initial ratings in excess of 10 percent, 20 percent, and 10 percent for radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, right lower extremity, and residual painful surgical scar, posterior trunk respectively, to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of January 30, 1978 for the award of service connection for TBI with unspecified neurocognitive disorder and denied earlier effective dates for radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities.
- Denied
The Board denied entitlement to a TDIU prior to April 15, 2011, as the Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not preclude him from obtaining or maintaining substantial gainful employment.
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