The veteran is seeking service connection for a lower back disability, which he claims is secondary to his service-connected left leg disabilities. The Board has determined that additional medical examination and opinion are needed before the claim can be decided.
The deciding factor: The Board requires further evidence regarding the nature and cause of the veteran's lower back disabilities due to incomplete examinations and lack of consideration of relevant factors such as Allen v. Brown (1995).
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the lumbar segment of the spine, Chronic low back pain
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 21, 2006
- Citation
- 0621508
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 remanded the case for further development to address issues related to a rating in excess of 10 percent prior to December 21, 2022, and in excess of 40 percent thereafter, for residuals of a fracture of the L2 vertebra with chronic low back pain. The propriety of the separately assigned rating for RLE radiculopathy is also remanded.
- Granted
The Veteran's chronic low back pain was granted a rating of 20 percent prior to May 25, 2013. A higher rating is denied.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's application to reopen his claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine status post laminectomy. The Board found that there is at least an equipoise of evidence regarding whether this condition is related to a fall during service in 1979, and thus decided in favor of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
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