The Board granted restoration of a 20 percent disability rating for lumbosacral strain with disc bulging at L5-S1 and IVDS, left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, and right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, effective September 1, 2024.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show actual improvement in the Veteran's ability to function under the ordinary conditions of life and work, thus the reduction was improper.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with disc bulging at L5-S1 and intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS), left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2025
- Citation
- A25102572
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 252 · 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 A25102572.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy was granted a disability rating of 40 percent, effective June 25, 2024. The decision found that the condition manifested with an incomplete paralysis of the sciatic nerve that was moderately severe.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates of February 24, 2023 for the Veteran's 20% ratings for left and right lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy and his entitlement to TDIU.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's original disability ratings of 40 percent for his right and left lower extremity sciatic nerve radiculopathy, effective April 1, 2021.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a lack of a VA examination, and the need to determine if any identified recurrent lumbar spine disability had its onset during active service or is related to any incident of service. The examiner must also assess whether it is at least as likely as not that any identified recurrent lumbar spine disability is due to or the result of the cervical spine degenerative arthritis and spondylosis and other service-connected disabilities.
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