The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation for back pain due to a compression fracture of L1 is being remanded for further development, including consideration under the revised rating criteria and a more recent VA examination.
The deciding factor: The case requires additional development to consider the new rating criteria and ensure compliance with the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000.
- Claimed conditions
- compression fracture of L1
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 13, 2004
- Citation
- 0404322
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 0404322.
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 Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for spine and left ankle disabilities due to insufficient medical evidence, including lack of consideration of medication effects and range of motion measurements. The Veteran will need new VA examinations to evaluate his current disability levels.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for compression fracture of L1, cervical segmental dysfunction, neck pain, and myofascitis and arthritis, bilateral pes planus, and left shoulder osteoarthritis have been reopened. The Board found that new evidence supports reopening these claims but denied the underlying service connection due to lack of a nexus between the conditions and active service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have, as likely as not, precluded him from maintaining substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and work history for the period prior to May 20, 2014.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back disability, including the compression fracture of L1 and lumbosacral strain, was not found to warrant a rating in excess of 20 percent prior to June 11, 2009, or in excess of 40 percent from that date.
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