The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates prior to April 23, 2014 for the 20% ratings of left and right lower extremity radiculopathies are denied.,The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates prior to July 2, 2024 for the grants of service connection for left and right upper extremity radiculopathies are denied.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date prior to July 2, 2024 for the increased rating of 40% for lumbar spine disability is denied.

The deciding factor: The claims were filed years after service separation and later in time than when entitlement arose. The current effective dates are appropriate because the claim was filed years after service separation and later in time than when entitlement arose.,The claims were filed years after service separation and later in time than when entitlement arose. The current effective dates are appropriate because entitlement arose prior to the date of the claim.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date prior to July 2, 2024 was granted with an effective date of July 2, 2024, which is within one year from when the increase in disability occurred. Therefore, no earlier effective date can be granted.

Claimed conditions

left lower extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity radiculopathy, left upper extremity radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy, lumbar spine disability

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

20%

Decision date

February 12, 2026

Citation

A26013642

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 A26013642.