The veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development, including a new VA examination and medical opinion to determine the current severity of his service-connected arthritis of the lumbar spine. The RO must also ensure that all notification and development action required by the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 are completed.
The deciding factor: The veteran's claim requires further evaluation due to a lack of recent examination data relevant to the rating criteria for intervertebral disc syndrome, which became effective September 23, 2002.
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 13, 2004
- Citation
- 0401087
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 0401087.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a low back disability and a cervical spine disability, finding that the evidence was in equipoise regarding their incurrence during active duty.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection of various conditions as they were premature, and denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II and a migraine headache disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for arthritis, a right hip disability, and a left hip disability. The 10 percent ratings for the left and right wrist disabilities were also denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar spine, right ankle, left ankle, right knee, and right lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities due to his failure to report for scheduled VA examinations without good cause.
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