The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy due to insufficient medical rationale provided in the previous rating decision.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide a substantial rationale explaining what findings or evidence is needed to support higher ratings, and the effects of medication were not considered.
- Claimed conditions
- left leg sciatic radiculopathy, right leg sciatic radiculopathy, left leg femoral radiculopathy, right leg femoral radiculopathy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2026
- Citation
- A26030120
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 A26030120.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for lumbosacral strain is granted. The Board also remanded the issue of secondary service connection for right leg pain, as there was insufficient medical opinion regarding its etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine, sciatic radiculopathy, and femoral nerve radiculopathy disabilities have been remanded for further review.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the restoration of a 40 percent disability rating for anterior L1 compression fracture effective November 16, 2020, and an initial increased disability rating of 20 percent for left leg sciatic radiculopathy throughout the period on appeal.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a higher rating for left leg sciatic radiculopathy was dismissed because the veteran requested to withdraw the appeal.
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