The Board remands the issues of entitlement to an increased initial rating for radiculopathy of both upper extremities due to a need for a new examination that adequately addresses the Veteran's symptoms during flare-ups and any differences between previous examinations.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary because the most recent VA peripheral nerves examination did not address the remarkably different results between the October 2016 and October 2020 examinations, making it unclear whether the differences reflect an improvement in the condition, error by a prior examiner, or some other factor.
- Claimed conditions
- Radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, Radiculopathy of the right upper extremity
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25024413
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.
- Granted
The Board granted a 30 percent rating for the service-connected left upper extremity radiculopathy, effective from August 3, 2023.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of September 20, 2022 for the assignment of service connection and a disability rating of 20 percent for radiculopathy of the right upper extremity from September 20, 2022 to March 20, 2024.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for the veteran's claimed conditions, including iliotibial band syndrome of the left knee, a cervical spine disability, radiculopathy of the right and left upper extremities, alopecia totalis, a right hip disability, a left hip disability, a right elbow disability, a right shoulder disability, and a left shoulder disability.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 40 percent for radiculopathy of the right upper extremity and denied an earlier effective date for the award of a separate 10 percent rating for right leg radiculopathy as associated with the lumbar spine disability.
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