The veteran's claim for an increased rating for sacrolitis is being remanded due to insufficient notice and the need for further examination.
The deciding factor: The VA failed to provide sufficient notice regarding what evidence was needed to substantiate the claim, including what portion of that evidence the veteran was required to submit and what portion would be secured by VA. Further examination is also necessary as the criteria for evaluating spinal disorders have been modified.
- Claimed conditions
- sacroilitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2004
- Citation
- 0400777
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,987 · Granted: 15% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0400777.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development due to a recent Court ruling requiring that VA examinations include joint testing for pain on both active and passive motion, in weight-bearing and nonweight-bearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to inadequate examination and failure to consider all relevant evidence, including lay statements of symptoms during service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected sacroilitis is currently rated at 40 percent disabling effective March 9, 2011. The Board finds that the evidence does not support a higher rating prior to this date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a low back disorder is being remanded due to the need for additional development and consideration, including a VA examination.
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