The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for left and right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy and a separate evaluation for left knee instability, finding that the evidence did not support higher evaluations.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms of mild incomplete paralysis of the sciatic nerve and his left knee disability did not meet the criteria for more severe neurological or musculoskeletal impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- Left lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, Right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, Left knee degenerative disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 17, 2025
- Citation
- A25109040
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 195 · Granted: 41% (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 A25109040.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
Effective dates of June 4, 2022 are granted for service connection for unspecified anxiety disorder, lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis and disc disease, IVDS, spondylosis, scoliosis and healed compression fracture of T7, right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, and right lower extremity femoral radiculopathy.,Effective date of October 5, 2023 is granted for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a TDIU due to his service-connected disabilities preventing him from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Denied
The Veteran's right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy was not service-connected prior to June 17, 2020. The claim for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for the disability is also denied.
- Granted
The reduction of the Veteran's evaluation for his back disability from 60 percent to 40 percent was improper, and the appeal is granted. The rating in excess of 60 percent for a back disability is denied. The ratings in excess of 20 percent for right lower extremity radiculopathy and left lower extremity radiculopathy are also denied.
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