The Board remands the claims for service connection of left and right upper extremity radiculopathy and left and right lower extremity radiculopathy to correct pre-decision duty-to-assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary due to pre-decision duty-to-assist errors, including inadequate VA examinations that failed to address private medical records and the Veteran's subjective symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- left upper extremity radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25032924
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for TDIU and DEA, but denied increased ratings for various service-connected conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- Partly granted
The Board denied earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection and granted initial 40 percent ratings for left upper extremity CTS, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and left lower extremity radiculopathy.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple disabilities, including cervical spine and thoracolumbar spine disabilities, radiculopathies, a bladder disability, headaches, a left knee disability, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and bilateral conjunctivitis. The Board also granted entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability.
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