The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical evidence and a need for further examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner is needed to distinguish between service-connected and nonservice-connected low back conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- low back strain with arthritis, status post laminectomy with subsequent decompression and interbody fusion at L4-L5
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 16, 2005
- Citation
- 0513080
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 0513080.
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 veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss, left ankle sprain, and low back strain with arthritis were granted. The veteran was also denied service connection for a skin rash to include contact dermatitis, claimed as secondary to Agent Orange exposure, and entitlement to service connection for muscle weakness, claimed as secondary to Agent Orange exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted earlier effective dates of April 24, 1994 for the grant of service connection and a compensable rating for left arm disability, low back disability, and left shoulder disability.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased evaluation of low back strain with arthritis, service connection for diabetes mellitus, neuropathy, and fibromyalgia. The claim for PTSD was not reopened due to lack of new and material evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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