The Board has determined that a VA examination is necessary to determine the nature and etiology of the veteran's claimed back, ankle, foot disabilities, as well as his bilateral hearing loss. The appeal will be remanded for these purposes.
The deciding factor: The evidence indicates service connection may be warranted based on in-service injury but requires further medical opinion to establish a link between current disability and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability, Bilateral ankle disability, Bilateral foot disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 9, 2004
- Citation
- 0418288
Veterans Law Judge
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0418288.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a back disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between his current condition and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a back disability due to incomplete service records and failure to consider all available evidence, including in-service treatment records from F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
- Granted
The Veteran's rating for residuals status post lumbar fusion was reduced from 40 percent to 20 percent effective October 25, 2023. The reduction was granted as there was no evidence of actual improvement in the Veteran's condition prior to this date.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a back disability is being remanded due to duty-to-assist errors and the need for a VA examination.
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