The Board denied earlier effective dates for the awards of service connection for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, as the August 19, 2021 intent to file claim was not associated with the subsequent December 7, 2021 formal claim.
The deciding factor: The October 2021 VA Form 21-8940 subsumed the August 2021 intent to file claim for compensation, and only issues contained within the first complete claim would relate back to the intent to file a claim for effective date purposes.
- Claimed conditions
- left lower extremity (femoral nerve) radiculopathy, left lower extremity (sciatic nerve) radiculopathy, right lower extremity (sciatic nerve) radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25030784
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy, as there was no evidence or assertion that would reasonably raise a claim for right leg radiculopathy out of another claim that was pending at the time.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for right upper extremity neuropathy, to include as secondary to a right elbow condition and denied increased ratings for the Veteran's service-connected disabilities. The Board also remanded several claims for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and earlier effective dates, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating or an earlier effective date.
- Partly granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for service connection and TDIU, restored a higher rating for a back condition, and remanded several other issues.
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