The Board has remanded the case for additional development due to failure to provide appropriate notice of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (VCAA) and obtain pertinent VA medical records.
The deciding factor: The VCAA mandates that veterans are provided with proper notice regarding their rights and responsibilities, including what evidence they must provide and what VA will obtain on their behalf. Additionally, all relevant evidence must be secured for the examination and opinion to be valid.
- Claimed conditions
- herniated disc
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2004
- Citation
- 0408563
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,599 · Granted: 37% (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 0408563.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's child is not eligible for VA benefits under 38 U.S.C. § 1805 for spina bifida because the evidence does not support a diagnosis of this condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's back disability, including back strain and herniated disc, is related to his military service. The Board has granted the claim for service connection.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar disorder, diagnosed as degenerative arthritis, spinal stenosis, herniated disc, and multi-level spondylosis. The Board found that the Veteran's current disability is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for higher ratings for service-connected low back disability and related radiculopathy is being remanded due to the need for clarification of crucial medical questions.,Higher ratings are sought for right and left lower extremity lumbar radiculopathy, but these issues have also been remanded.
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