PERIPHERAL NERVE PARALYSIS

JONATHAN HAGER · 2026 · Case ID: A26040914

DENIED

Summary

The veteran, who served in the United States Marine Corps from April 1996 to December 2016, including service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War in Iraq and Afghanistan, appeals the denial of service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy. The Board reviewed three VA thoracolumbar spine examinations and one VA peripheral nerve examination. The examinations consistently found no symptoms suggestive of left lower extremity radiculopathy, with negative straight leg raising tests and no reported pain, paresthesias, or numbness in that extremity. The April 2021 examination noted weakness and pain in the right leg, but the veteran declined the straight leg raising test for that leg, and no left lower extremity symptoms were reported. A review of VA treatment records and private medical evidence revealed no complaints, treatment, or diagnosis of left lower extremity radiculopathy. Service treatment records also lacked any notation of left lower extremity complaints or treatment. While a VA examiner noted the Veteran's left lower extremity would likely progress, the Board found this prediction of future progression did not establish a current disability. The Board concluded that the evidence persuasively weighed against the existence of a current disability or symptoms causing impairment in earning capacity related to left lower extremity radiculopathy. Service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy was denied.

Rationale

No current diagnosis of left lower extremity radiculopathy.; No symptoms causing impairment in earning capacity related to left lower extremity radiculopathy.; VA examinations and treatment records did not support the claim.

Service Branch

MARINE CORPS

Special Benefit

NO SPECIAL BENEFIT

Docket No.

210909-183817

Full Decision Text

Citation Nr: A26040914
Decision Date: 04/30/26 Archive Date: 04/30/26

DOCKET NO. 210909-183817
DATE: April 30, 2026

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy is denied.

FINDING OF FACT

The competent evidence persuasively shows that the Veteran has not been diagnosed with left lower extremity radiculopathy and has not had symptoms of the left lower extremity causing impairment in earning capacity during the appeal period of approximate thereto.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1117, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.317.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active duty service in the United States Marine Corps from April 1996 to December 2016, to include service in the Southwest theater of operations during the Persian Gulf war, specifically in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an appeal of an April 2021 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In the rating decision, the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) denied the above claim.

In his September 2021 Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement) (NOD), the Veteran elected the Hearing docket. Under the AMA hearing docket, the Board may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the respective AOJ decision on appeal, as well as any evidence submitted by the Veteran or representative at the hearing or within 90 days following the hearing. 38 U.S.C. § 7113(b); 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(a).

The Board hearing was scheduled to occur on April 18, 2025. In an April 2, 2025 letter, the Veteran's representative withdrew the hearing request pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(e). Thus, the 90 day window runs from the date of the receipt of the withdrawal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.302(b) (if the hearing request is withdrawn, the evidentiary record includes "evidence submitted by the appellant or his or her representative within 90 days following receipt of the withdrawal").

If the Veteran wishes to have VA consider any evidence that was not considered, he may at any time file a supplemental claim with the AOJ after receiving this decision and the additional evidence will be considered in connection with the supplemental claim. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5104C(a)(1)(B), (b); 5108; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2501, 20.1105(a). If filed within one year, this supplemental claim will preserve the date of the claim denied herein as the effective date of the grant of the benefit or benefits sought. 38 U.S.C. § 5104C(a)(2)(B); 38 C.F.R. § 3.2500(h)(1).

Service Connection

Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that current disability resulted from an injury suffered or disease contracted in active military, naval, air, or space service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). Establishing service connection generally requires competent evidence of three things: (1) current disability; (2) in-service injury or disease; and (3) a relationship between the two. Saunders v. Wilkie, 886 F. 3d 1356, 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2018). Consistent with this framework, service connection is warranted for a disease first diagnosed after service when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d).

Left lower extremity radiculopathy

Whether service connection is claimed on a direct, secondary, or any other basis, a current disability is an essential element of the claim. See Degmetich v. Brown, 104 F.3d 1328, 1333 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (38 U.S.C. §§ 1110 and 1131 require "a presently existing disability" to warrant compensation).

In determining whether the current disability requirement has been met, the Board must consider the entire claim period and the period preceding it, Romanowsky v.
pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d).

Left lower extremity radiculopathy

In determining whether the current disability requirement has been met, the Board must consider the entire claim period and the period preceding it, Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 293 (2013) (Board erred in failing to address pre-claim evidence in assessing whether a current disability existed, for purposes of service connection, at the time the claim was filed or during its pendency); McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007) (the presence of a disability at the time of filing of a claim or during its pendency warrants a finding that the current disability requirement has been met, even if the disability resolves prior to the Board's adjudication of the claim) and whether there have been symptoms causing impairment in earning capacity or a different but related disorder diagnosed during this period. Saunders, 886 F.3d at 1364-65 (pain alone can constitute disability under 38 U.S.C. § 1131); Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1, 4-5 (2009) (a claim should not be limited to the disorder as characterized by the Veteran but must be characterized and addressed based on the reasonable expectations of the non-expert claimant and the evidence in processing the claim).

For the following reasons, the Board finds that the Veteran did not have left lower extremity radiculopathy or any related left lower extremity disorder or impairment in earning capacity during the period of appeal since his service connection claim was received in April 2020 or approximate thereto.

During the period under consideration, the Veteran reported for three VA thoracolumbar spine conditions examinations (November 2017, October 2020 and April 2021), and a VA peripheral nerve conditions examination (March 2021).

Upon the November 2017 VA spine examination, the clinician reported that the Veteran did not endorse numbness, tingling, or weakness Straight leg raising testing was negative and there were no symptoms suggestive or indicative of left lower extremity radiculopathy. Specifically, there was no measure of constant pain, intermittent pain, paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, or numbness as to the Veteran lower extremity.

Upon the October 2020 spine examinations, the clinician that straight leg raising testing was negative and there were no symptoms suggestive or indicative of left lower extremity radiculopathy. Specifically, there was no measure of constant pain, intermittent pain, paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, or numbness as to the Veteran lower extremity. Upon the April 2021 spine examination, the Veteran only endorsed weakness in his right leg and shooting pain, which he characterized as severe. The clinician indicated that he was unable top perform straight leg raising testing because the Veteran declined to do so. Symptoms were limited to server right lower extremity intermittent pain, paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, and numbness. There was no left lower extremity constant pain, intermittent pain, paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, or numbness. The clinician only provided a diagnosis of right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy (involvement of L4/L5/S1/S2/S3 right nerve roots).

As to the Veteran's lower peripheral nerve constellations, the VA clinician who conducted the peripheral nerve conditions examination indicated that the left sciatic nerve was normal. The clinician provided no findings as to the Veteran's other left lower extremity nerves.

Upon a review of the Veteran's compendium of VA treatment records and progress notes, the are no complaints of, treatment for, or any diagnosis (to include an historical diagnosis) of left lower extremity radiculopathy. Moreover, these records provide no affirmative guidance as the Veteran reporting left lower extremity pain or symptoms which impair his ability to perform any occupational task or activity of daily life.

A review of the private medical evidence of records contains no complaints of clinician notations concerning either the existence or left lower extremity radiculopathy or any impairing left lower extremity symptom.

Turning to the Veteran's service treatment records,
The clinician provided no findings as to the Veteran's other left lower extremity nerves.

Turning to the Veteran's service treatment records, in an extensive addendum to an August 2016 examiner's summary to the Veteran's separation report of medical examination, there are extensive notations as to the lower back, including physical therapy, x-ray imaging, and radiological impressions, however, there in not a single notation about complaints, therapeutic intervention, treatment, or diagnosis of left lower extremity radiculopathy or any left lower extremity pain. Specifically, there was no pain, paresthesias and/or dysesthesias, or numbness noted as to the Veteran lower extremity. A review of the other service treatment records fails to disclose complaints of, treatment for, or a diagnosis of left lower extremity radiculopathy.

In a May 13, 2025, letter brief, the Veteran's representative noted that the April 2021 VA Examiner concluded that, although physical examination and history did not support progression of the radiculopathy to the left, as opposed to right, lower extremity, "the examiner further noted that [the Veteran's] left lower extremity would likely progress due to the same condition." While the Veteran's representative is correct that the examiner wrote, "Physical exam and history did not support progression to include the left lower extremity; however, it is [] likely to progress," the above laws, regulations, and cases reflect that service connection requires a current disability, not a future one. Should the predicted progression occur, the Veteran may file a supplemental claim, however, on the current record, the cited remark of the examiner and the other evidence described above reflects that there has not ben a diagnosis of left lower extremity radiculopathy and there have not been left lower extremity symptoms causing impairment in earning capacity.

Congress has specifically limited entitlement to service connection for disease or injury to cases where such incidents have resulted in disability. 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Thus, where, as in this matter, the evidence establishes that the Veteran does not have diagnoses, symptoms causing impairment other than those for which he is already being compensated, or related disorders or symptoms, service connection is not warranted. Gilpin v. West, 155 F.3d 1353, 1356 (Fed. Cir. 1998).

Finally, as noted, the Veteran served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf war and therefore is entitled to service connection if he has signs or symptoms of disability, including muscle pain, joint pain, and neurological signs or symptoms, that have not been attributed to a known clinical diagnosis or constitute a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness. However, there is no evidence or argument that there have been left lower extremity symptoms that existed for 6 months or more or episodes of improvement and worsening over a 6-month period that would warrant a finding of a qualifying chronic disability. 38 U.S.C. § 1117(g)(4),(5),(6); 38 C.F.R. § 3.317(a)(4), (b)(4),(5),(6).

For the above reasons, the evidence is neither evenly balanced nor approximately so with regard to whether service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy is warranted. Rather, the evidence persuasively weighs against the existence of a current disability, to include symptoms causing impairment in earning capacity. The benefit of the doubt doctrine is therefore not for application as to this claim. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Lynch v. McDonough, 21 F. 4th 776, 781-82 (Fed. Cir. 2021) (en banc) (only when the evidence persuasively favors one side, or the other is the benefit of the doubt doctrine not for application).

Jonathan Hager

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board B.J. Komins, Counsel

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of

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