The Board denied a disability rating in excess of 40 percent for the back disability and remanded the claim for a right lower extremity (RLE) sciatica disability rating.
The deciding factor: The RLE sciatica was found to be at worst by moderate intermittent pain, moderate paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, and moderate numbness; moderately severe incomplete paralysis was not shown. The back disability required a VA examination as per Correia v. McDonald due to the lack of range of motion testing in weight-bearing.
- Claimed conditions
- Right lower extremity (RLE) sciatica, Degenerative joint disease, lumbar spine (back disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25088086
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 734 · Granted: 31% (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 A25088086.
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 veteran was granted an initial disability rating of 40 percent, but no higher, from December 26, 2017, for right lower extremity (RLE) sciatica.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for hearing loss and increased the disability rating for RLE sciatica, but remanded several other issues.,Insomnia was granted an initial 30 percent disability rating from January 17, 2023.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his cervical and lumbar spine disabilities, as well as his right lower extremity sciatica. The remand includes obtaining clarification regarding the nature of the Veteran’s IVDS episodes and any physician-prescribed bedrest due to his spinal conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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