Citation Nr: 21001600 Decision Date: 01/11/21 Archive Date: 01/11/21 DOCKET NO. 12-20 887A DATE: January 11, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s left lower extremity radiculopathy is etiologically related to her service-connected back disablity. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria to establish service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 2007 to September 2008. The Veteran appeals a March 2012 rating decision by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) denying service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy, claimed as due to the Veteran’s service-connected back disability. In a March 2019 decision, the Board denied the claim. The Veteran appealed that denial to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In September 2020, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) filed by representatives for both parties and remanded it to the Board for further proceedings consistent with the JMR. The JMR specifically remanded this case due to an outstanding Privacy Act Request filed by the Veteran’s representative in February 2019. That request has since been fulfilled in August 2019. Therefore, this case now returns to the Board for further appellate proceedings. A Veteran is entitled to VA disability compensation if there is a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131. Generally, to establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a veteran must show: (1) a present disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service, the so-called “nexus” requirement. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that a disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). Under section 3.310(a) of VA regulations, service connection may be established on a secondary basis for a disability which is proximately due to or the result of service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a). Establishing service connection on a secondary basis requires evidence sufficient to show: (1) a current disability; (2) a service-connected disability; and (3) a nexus between the current disability and the service-connected disability. See Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509, 512 (1988). As to the third Wallin element, the current disability may be either (a) proximately caused by or (b) proximately aggravated by a service-connected disability. Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995) (en banc). The Veteran has a diagnosis of left lower extremity radiculopathy. See October 2019 Dr. J.F. medical opinion. The Veteran is currently service connected for a back disability. See December 2008 rating decision. Accordingly, the first and second Wallin elements are met. Dr. J.F., after a thorough discussion of the Veteran’s prior medical examinations and citing a body of literature detailing the definitions and process surrounding diagnosing symptoms of radiculopathy, provided a positive nexus opinion linking the Veteran’s left lower extremity radiculopathy to her time in service, specifically stating that it is more likely than not due to her military service to include as due to her service-connected back disability. See October 2019 Dr. J.F. medical opinion. Thus, Dr. J.F.’s medical opinion provided a causal link between the Veteran’s service-connected back disability and her left lower extremity radiculopathy. Accordingly, service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy is granted. DONNIE R. HACHEY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Katie Poe, Associate 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 general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.