The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining all available VA medical records and providing an opinion regarding whether intervertebral disc syndrome or any present neurologic symptoms are related to or have been aggravated by his service-connected chronic recurrent low back strain.
The deciding factor: The conflicting etiology opinions of record require further efforts to obtain all available VA medical records and provide a comprehensive opinion on the issue of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic recurrent low back strain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 26, 2006
- Citation
- 0602315
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,710 · Granted: 15% (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 0602315.
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 service-connected chronic recurrent low back strain is currently rated at 40 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The case is remanded for additional development and adjudication of the issues of entitlement to service connection for lumbar disc disease and a rating in excess of 40 percent for chronic recurrent low back strain.
- Denied
The VA has denied the veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 40 percent for his service-connected chronic recurrent low back strain, finding that the evidence does not support a higher rating based on current symptomatology.
- Denied
The Board found that the veteran's back condition existed prior to service and was not aggravated by service, thus denying his claim for service connection.
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