The Board remands the claims for a higher rating for lumbar spine disability, lower extremity radiculopathy, and TDIU due to insufficient evidence and non-compliance with previous remand instructions.

The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to ensure compliance with the duty to assist in obtaining treatment records and to properly evaluate the Veteran's service-connected disabilities according to applicable legal standards.

Claimed conditions

Residuals of fractured coccyx with degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, intervertebral disc syndrome, and spinal stenosis, Right lower extremity radiculopathy (involving the femoral nerve), Left lower extremity radiculopathy (involving the femoral nerve), Right lower extremity radiculopathy (involving the sciatic nerve), Left lower extremity radiculopathy (involving the sciatic nerve), Total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

December 29, 2025

Citation

25015242

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine