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Board of Veterans' Appeals · AMA series

Entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve) is denied.

July 30, 2026Citation Nr. A26069997Docket 220425-239817va.gov source

  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than November 7, 2017, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than November 7, 2017, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to July 11, 2016, for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to a 20 percent rating, but not higher, from July 11, 2016, to November 6, 2017, for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Granted
  • entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent from November 7, 2017, for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to July 11, 2016, for left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
DecisionAnalysis

Board reasoning

The Board found that the veteran's radiculopathy of the sciatic nerve existed by 2013 but did not involve the femoral nerve until 2017, and thus denied earlier effective dates for sciatic radiculopathy while granting a 20% rating for both legs on July 11, 2016 to November 6, 2017. It also concluded that the sciatic radiculopathy was at most moderate during the relevant periods, justifying the 20% ratings from July 11, 2016, for both extremities. The femoral nerve radiculopathy claims were not established until November 7, 2017. The Board resolved reasonable doubt in the veteran's favor when advancing the July 11, 2016 date as the point at which the disability met the 20% criteria for the sciatic nerve and denied earlier dates for all issues other than this staged rating.

Issues

  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 19, 2013, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than November 7, 2017, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an effective date earlier than November 7, 2017, for the grant of entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy (femoral nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to July 11, 2016, for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to a 20 percent rating, but not higher, from July 11, 2016, to November 6, 2017, for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Granted
  • entitlement to a rating in excess of 20 percent from November 7, 2017, for right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied
  • entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent prior to July 11, 2016, for left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatic nerve)Denied

Authorities

No case citation in this analysis matched the decision text.

Extracted with gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07. Citations are kept only when they appear in the decision text.