The Board remands the claims for a new VA examination to address trophic changes, gait changes, and the effects of medications on the Veteran's radiculopathy symptoms.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary as the June 2025 VA back examination did not fully comply with the Board's March 2025 remand instructions regarding the evaluation of the Veteran's bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar radiculopathy of the right sciatic nerve, lumbar radiculopathy of the left sciatic nerve
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2025
- Citation
- 25013191
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,135 · Granted: 33% (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 25013191.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issues of entitlement to increased ratings for lumbar radiculopathy and special monthly compensation due to an inadequate VA examination.
- Granted
The Board granted a 20 percent rating for lumbar radiculopathy of the right sciatic nerve prior to October 5, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from engaging in substantially gainful employment prior to November 2, 2021. The Board granted an extraschedular TDIU effective October 7, 2014.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right sciatic nerve radiculopathy was rated at 10 percent prior to August 18, 2022 and denied a higher rating. For the period beginning August 18, 2022, he is denied a rating in excess of 20 percent.,The Veteran's left sciatic nerve radiculopathy was granted a separate 10 percent rating.
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