Radiculopathy secondary to a back condition: Board grants rose sharply after 2019

The Board of Veterans' Appeals now grants radiculopathy claimed as secondary to a service-connected back condition far more often than it did at the start of the period. In 2018 and 2019, it granted the claim in 28.6% of decisions. In 2024 and 2025, it granted it in 55.9%, a rise of 27.3 percentage points.

The figures come from 1,166 Board decisions from 2018 to 2026 that decided radiculopathy as secondary to a back disability under 38 CFR 3.310. Across all years, the Board granted 50.0%, remanded 34.2% and denied 15.9%.

Share of decisions each year. 2026 is a partial year.

Remands gave way to grants

Much of the change shows up as fewer remands. The Board remanded 50.5% of these decisions in 2018 and 2019 and 29.2% in 2024 and 2025. Grants climbed year by year: 41.1% in 2020, 44.9% in 2022, 54.4% in 2024 and 57.1% in 2025. The 2026 figure, 83.3%, covers only part of the year.

When the Board decided the issue on the merits rather than remanding it, it granted 57.8% in 2018 and 2019 and 78.9% in 2024 and 2025. The data does not show why the rate rose.

The secondary claim also fares much better than radiculopathy as a whole. Across all radiculopathy decisions, direct and secondary, the Board granted 28.6%. This secondary claim sits 21.4 percentage points above that.

What the evidence looks like

Medical opinions track the outcome most closely. With a positive nexus opinion in the record, the Board granted on the merits in 89.0% of decisions; without one, 66.1%. With a private medical opinion, the rate was 81.4%, against 68.6% without. A favorable VA exam went with 83.9%, compared with 73.4%.

Adverse evidence moved the rate the other way, but not far. Records with an unfavorable VA exam were granted on the merits at 74.2%, against 88.9% without one. With a negative nexus opinion, the rate was 71.1%; without, 83.1%. Even with an adverse opinion in the file, most merits decisions were grants.

In the recordNot in the record

Positive nexus opinion

89.0%

66.1%

Private medical opinion

81.4%

68.6%

Favorable VA exam

83.9%

73.4%

Combat service

83.3%

75.3%

Merits decisions only (granted or denied). Associations, not causes.

Lay statements came with a slightly lower rate: 75.1% with one, 82.2% without. These are associations, not causes. Records that include a given piece of evidence may differ in other ways the data does not capture.

The Board applied the benefit of the doubt under 38 CFR 3.102 in 73.9% of grants.

What the decisions say

Grants most often state that the radiculopathy was "caused by the service-connected disability" (234 grants). Next come "current diagnosis established" (85) and "service connection established" (43).

Denials are relatively few, and their leading reasons center on diagnosis and service. The most common is "no current diagnosis" (19 denials), followed by "no in-service complaints, treatment or diagnosis" (18), a finding that speaks to direct rather than secondary service connection. "Current diagnosis established" appears in 12 denials, so a confirmed diagnosis did not settle every claim.

Read the decisions

Recent examples, with the Board's reasons as summarized by AI:

• A26040838, granted in 2026: service connection for low back disability established by AOJ.
• A26040034, granted in 2026: current diagnosis of LLE radiculopathy.
• A26039254, granted in 2026: diagnosed together with back condition.
• 26005099, denied in 2026: no current radiculopathy diagnosed.
• A26039462, denied in 2026: service treatment records negative for radiculopathy symptoms.
• A26027586, denied in 2026: no current diagnosis of right upper extremity radiculopathy during appeal period.

For representatives

• "No current diagnosis" is the most common denial reason. Check that the record documents a current radiculopathy diagnosis before the appeal reaches the Board.
• A positive nexus opinion went with a merits grant rate of 89.0%, against 66.1% without one; a private opinion showed a similar gap.
• An unfavorable VA exam did not end most claims: the merits grant rate with one was still 74.2%, and the benefit of the doubt appears in 73.9% of grants.