Citation Nr: 21026041 Decision Date: 04/29/21 Archive Date: 04/29/21 DOCKET NO. 18-27 840 DATE: April 29, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT The Veteran’s right lower extremity radiculopathy is proximately due to his service-connected back disability. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from November 1958 to October 1962. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2017 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In February 2019, the Veteran testified at a hearing before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ). The Board remanded the appeal for further development in June 2019 and November 2020. Notably, during the pendency of this appeal, a January 2021 rating decision awarded service connection for a skin disorder. This issue is accordingly not in appellate status. The Board finds that the issue of secondary service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy has been reasonably raised, given the Veteran’s complaints of right foot pain and the other evidence of record. Clemons v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 1 (2009) (the scope of the Veteran’s claim includes any disability that reasonably may be encompassed by the claimant’s description of the claim, reported symptoms, and the other information of record). While the issue has not been adjudicated by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction, because the decision on this issue is fully favorable, there is no prejudice to the Veteran in the Board addressing this matter in the first instance. With regard to the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to service connection for a bilateral foot disorder, to include pes planus, the Board notes that the Veteran’s representative submitted a request for a new hearing in February 2020 following the Board’s initial remand, and this request must be honored. Quinn v. Wilkie, 31 Vet. App. 284 (2019). Accordingly, that matter has been sent for hearing scheduling, and the Veteran will be notified of the date of time of the same. Entitlement to service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy is granted. Service connection may also be established on a secondary basis for a disability proximately due to or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310; see also Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995) (en banc). To establish secondary service connection, a Veteran must show: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) the existence of a service-connected disability; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the service-connected disability. See Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509, 512 (1998). Here, the Veteran has consistently reported bilateral foot pain which has been diagnosed as bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy. See July 2020 VA examination report. He is service-connected for a back disability. Therefore, the first two elements of secondary service connection are satisfied. As service connection for radiculopathy in the left lower extremity has already been awarded, only the right lower extremity will be addressed. Regarding the last element, nexus, the only adequate opinion of record addressing the etiology of the Veteran’s right lower extremity radiculopathy is the July 2020 VA examiner. Based upon a review of the claims file, interview, and examination of the Veteran, the examiner determined that the Veteran’s right foot pain was caused by a neurological disorder affecting his entire extremity, diagnosed as lower extremity radiculopathy, and attributed it to his service-connected back disability. This opinion is demonstrative of an etiological relationship between the Veteran’s back disability and his right lower extremity radiculopathy, and there is no competent opinion to the contrary. Accordingly, secondary service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy is granted. S. BUSH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board S.S. Mahoney 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.