The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for the Veteran's back disability and lower extremity radiculopathy due to insufficient information regarding the baseline severity of his conditions when discounting the beneficial effects of medication.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary as there is insufficient information to evaluate the Veteran's spinal stenosis, degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease other than IVDS, lumbosacral strain, thoracic spine scoliosis, and muscle spasm of the back in accordance with the criteria of Diagnostic Code 5242-5238 due to the ameliorative effects of medication.
- Claimed conditions
- spinal stenosis, degenerative arthritis, degenerative disc disease other than intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), lumbosacral strain, thoracic spine scoliosis, muscle spasm of the back, right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve), right lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve), left lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 2, 2025
- Citation
- 25006040
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 916 · Granted: 40% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 25006040.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to inadequate VA examinations and a pre-decisional duty to assist error. Additional development is needed for service connection of carpal tunnel syndrome, increased ratings for lower extremity radiculopathies, and obtaining a VA TERA opinion.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's rating for his right elbow condition from 10 percent to 20 percent effective May 5, 2025, finding that the evidence was in equipoise regarding whether there had been improvement in the Veteran's ability to function under ordinary conditions of life and work.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates of January 13, 2020 for the service connection of low back disability and related radiculopathy issues. The Veteran's claims were reopened due to new evidence submitted in January 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
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